Glazers reject Qatari bid to buy Manchester United at $6.1b despite $1b debt pile
ALBAWABA – Investors led by Sheikh Jassim al-Thani have pulled the Qatari bid to buy Manchester United after majority shareholders rejected the investor group’s $6.1 billion offer, news agencies reported Saturday.
The Glazers, who bought majority shares in Manchester United in 2005, are insisting on $7.27 billion, which the Qataris did not meet, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.
The move leaves Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe in a stronger position to acquire a significant stake in the club, allowing some of the Glazers to cash out, sources have confirmed to Reuters, but not all of them.
Ratcliffe’s offer is to buy 25 percent of the stakes for $1.7 billion, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The Qatari bid to buy Manchester United included a two billion dollar investment in redevelopment and such - Shutterstock
By contrast, Ratcliffe is reportedly willing to buy a smaller stake to break the impasse over the Glazers' asking price, according to AFP.
The football club’s valuation in the stock market stands at around $3.3 billion, as reported by Reuters, but the Glazers are demanding more than double the amount.
Even though Sheikh Jassim has promised to invest more than $1.7 billion in Manchester United after the acquisition, according to the Canada-based news agency, the Glazers still rejected his offer.
Qatari bid to buy Manchester United could turn things around for the Red Devils
Notably, the Red Devils (Manchester United, or Man Utd) have not won the Premier League since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and last won the Champions League in 2008.
The Qatari bid to buy Manchester United would have been the third acquisition of a major British football club by an Arab Gulf investment group or entity - Shutterstock
Man Utd currently sits 10th in the Premier League and have lost their first two Champions League group stage matches for the first time in the club's history.
Should the Qatari investors group acquire the club, it would be the third such acquisition by an Arab Gulf investor, after the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 2008, Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family acquired the current Reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City, whose fortunes have been transformed since the takeover, according to AFP.
In 2021, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund also bought a controlling stake in Newcastle.
Man United's home was overlooked in favour of Manchester City's Etihad Stadium for the United Kingdom and Ireland's successful bid to host Euro 2028.
Old Trafford remains the largest club football stadium in England, but is in need of significant redevelopment to keep pace with the facilities offered by their rivals. Hence Jassim’s $1.7 billion investment pledge.
Why was the Qatari bid to buy Manchester United rejected?
The Glazers' valuation expectations have been aggressively inflated by other soccer deals.
Last year, the $3.1 billion acquisition of Chelsea Football Club by an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital valued it at 5.7 times its revenue for its last financial year.
Likewise, the Glazers’ target would be equivalent to 11 times the club's revenue over the last 12 months, according to LSEG data, as reported by Reuters.
The Qatari bid to buy Manchester United would have also paid off the club's debts - Shutterstock
The Qatari bid to buy Manchester United would not have leveraged any debt and would have paid down the club's existing debt pile, which – net of cash – totals more than $600 million, a source told Reuters. AFP’s figures place the club’s total debt pile at over $970 million.
Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe were the front-runners for the club’s acquisition after several rounds of bidding earlier this year.
Ratcliffe’s offer could give certain members of the Glazer family, including Joel and Avram Glazer, a chance to remain invested — at least in the short term, Bloomberg reported.
However, that would likely infuriate some supporters of Manchester United, who have blamed its American owners for presiding over years of under-performance and want them out of the club.
