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British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to offer $5 billion in a down to the wire bidding battle against a series of potential buyers of UK Premiership football club Manchester United, including Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani.
London’s Financial Times reported Thursday that Ratcliffe’s bid would value the club at $5 billion, a record acquisition price for a sports team.
The current record is held by Walmart heir Rob Walton’s acquisition of Denver Broncos American football franchise at $4.65 billion.
Ratcliffe, who founded the Ineos chemicals empire, is bidding against the Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim. If successful, he will own the fierce local rival of Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City, of which a controlling share was acquired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008.
The bid deadline was extended in a dramatic move on Wednesday night by current owners the US-based Glazer family, UK outlets reported, and while the Glazers, have never officially announced an asking price, many news and sports outlets have said it could be as high as $6 billion.
If the sale goes ahead, it will be a huge payday for the Glazers, who took full control of Man United in 2005 in a controversial $942 million deal, which was unpopular with the fanbase due to the level of debt created by the leveraged buyout.
The club, which has global brand recognition with a roster of global stars among its former players including George Best, David Beckham, Eric Cantona, and until last year, Cristiano Ronaldo, is currently placed third in the Premier League behind Arsenal in first place and Manchester City in second place.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
