PARIS (AFP) - A consortium led by a Qatari banker announced Friday it had submitted an offer to take full control of Manchester United, with British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe also reported to have lodged a bid.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani “today confirmed his submission of a bid for 100 percent of Manchester United Football Club”, his press release said ahead of Friday’s “soft” deadline for bidders.
Ratcliffe’s company Ineos is the only other bidder to have officially declared an interest, keen to expand a sporting portfolio that already includes French side Nice and Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport, as well as the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky.
The Daily Telegraph reported late Friday he had told Raine Group, the U.S. merchant bank conducting the sale, that he could be the club’s “long-term custodian”.
A BBC report said Ratcliffe had submitted a bid before the 2200 GMT deadline.
A bid from Saudi Arabia had also been expected.
The statement from Sheikh Jassim, chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), did not give any details on the amount proposed in the bid for United.
However, the price could reach a record $6 billion, according to reports.
The bid announced Friday will be “completely debt free” via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will “look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports”.
The club’s current owners, the US-based Glazer family, announced in November they were open to a sale of or investment in the record 20-time English champions, prompting talk of a bidding war between Qatari and Saudi Arabian interests.
But with United’s shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), brokers acting for the club will be obliged to consider offers even after Friday’s “soft” deadline.
United shares rose by close to two percent in after-hours trading following the Qatari bid announcement. They had closed down 1.9 percent on Friday.
Both Ratcliffe and 41-year-old Sheikh Jassim, educated at Britain’s elite Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, claim to be boyhood United fans.
-Competition questions-
A takeover by either could raise questions of competition given the Brit’s ownership of Nice and Qatar’s control of French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
UEFA competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League do not allow two clubs to enter if the owner of one also controls, or could have influence over, the other.
But a statement issued late Friday on behalf of Sheikh Jassim stressed he was a private individual with no links to the Qatar Sports Investment group that owns PSG.
Any Saudi Arabian investment in United would prompt outrage from human rights groups, who have spoken out against the Gulf state following the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
A Qatari takeover would be opposed on similar grounds, with Peter Frankental, Amnesty UK’s economic affairs director, saying it would represent “a continuation of this state-backed sportswashing project”.
Deeply unpopular with supporters since they saddled the club with huge debts in the £790 million ($961 million) 2005 takeover, the Glazers further angered fans by backing the failed European Super League project in 2021.
The Telegraph reported that sources close to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) were playing down the likelihood of a state-backed bid given their existing involvement with rival Premier League club Newcastle United.