Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, President of BIQ, the Islamic Bank of Qatar, the second largest financial institution of the largest gas producer in the Persian Gulf, announced yesterday that he would bid at least 6 billion euros to buy Manchester United. This was acknowledged by sources close to the negotiations for the sale of the UK’s most popular club and confirmed by Sky. Nobody has paid more for a team in the history of professional sports. It’s the minimum figure the English club’s owners, the Glazer family, were expecting in the latest round of bids, which ended at 10pm yesterday.
The Glazers now have to decide whether to sell the club to the highest payer, observe other criteria or keep 69% of the property as before. The process they began selling in November is subject to the last will of a family showing signs of exhaustion after a decade without being able to win the premier. Sources close to the Glazers indicate their desire is to trade United to Al-Thani. If they haven’t made the agreement yet, it’s because of legal scruples: a potential conflict of interest. The connection between the Al-Thanis and the fund that owns the Paris Saint-Germain property is public and notorious.
Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, United’s presidential nominee, is the son of Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, former Prime Minister of Qatar between 2007 and 2013, and cousin of Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir’s father . This can trigger legal consequences in UEFA regulations. Article 5.01 of the UEFA competitions prohibits a club from participating if there are indications that it may be controlled by another, even if the owners are formally different persons or entities. The fact that the president of the Islamic Bank of Qatar has no dependent relationship with the Emir of Qatar – PSG’s ultimate strategist – is controversial in England.
Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, Chairman of BIQ, the Islamic Bank of Qatar.BIQ
“There is no ex-ante control,” says José Carlos Páez, a lawyer at the law firm Nebot&Páez specializing in sports law in Spain and England. “The controllers of the purchase are the Football Association and the Prime Minister, who have to ensure that certain conditions are met, as is the case with CSD in Spain. However, if it later turns out that both United and PSG qualify for the same European competition, Article 5 will apply there, which could exclude one of them from the tournament.
Whether or not they accept the Qatari offer, the Glazers are one step away from striking a historic deal. The pull effect has also piqued the interest of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of petrochemicals Ineos, whose bid to buy United would also result in a world record if accepted. Only Rob Walton, owner of the American supermarket Walmart, offered more for a sports partnership. It was the summer of 2022 and the bid was $4.650 million[unos 4.700 millones de euros, al cambio de la época\], earned him the NFL’s acquisition of the Denver Broncos. Todd Boehly paid just under €4,500m for Chelsea, and the experts from the multinational consulting firms who valued the club insist that anything over €3,000m was too expensive.
700 million debt
Negotiations between Ratcliffe, the Qatar Sheikh and the Glazers have not stopped in the last month. A delegation of lawyers and associates from the Al-Thani family visited United facilities last Thursday. According to The Athletic, they spent ten hours checking the club’s accounts. They even visited the training ground and dressing rooms. They had made an offer of 4,500 million and warned they would raise it. Ratcliffe made the same visit on Friday and also pledged to offer more.
United, the richest sports company in the UK by economic potential, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It has an estimated capital of $4,200 million and debt of $700 million. According to independent appraisers, it is not worth more than 5,000 million euros. But, as Ratcliffe said in The Wall Street Journal, “How do you decide the price of a painting?”
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.