Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made an official bid to buy Manchester United as Britain’s richest man – and boyhood supporter of the club – becomes one of two confirmed contenders to take over after Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani’s proposal
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group has reportedly submitted an official bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.
The 70-year-old is Britain’s richest man and had reportedly hired Wall Street giants JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to advise him on his bid.
And according to Athletic, Ratcliffe has now made an official bid to buy the club with hopes that he can “bring Manchester back to Manchester United” if his bid is successful, according to sources close to the British billionaire.
The chemical tycoon, reportedly worth around £13.3billion, was also in the running to buy Chelsea last year. There he made a last-minute £4.25bn bid to buy the London Club in May and is also a season ticket holder at the club.
He was one of the first bidders to announce that he had started the process to purchase the football club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group has made a bid to buy Manchester United
Ratcliffe is the second confirmed bidder today after Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani was the first to confirm he intended to bid for “100 per cent” of Manchester United Football Club
The Glazer family are seeking between £6bn and £7bn for the club, with bids expected to be around £4bn
Ratcliffe bought French club Nice for £91million in 2019, two years after buying Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport.
Ratcliffe told the Financial Times: “I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. I was at that most remarkable game in Barcelona in 1999. That is burned deep into my memory.
Ratcliffe had hired Wall Street giants JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs to advise him on his bid.
“Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family. I met Joel and Avram. They are the nicest of people, I must say, real gentlemen.
“They don’t want to sell it (the club). It belongs to the father’s six children. If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we probably would have tried it after the Chelsea thing. But we can’t sit around and hope that one day Manchester United will become available.
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