Qatar consortium withdraws from Manchester United’s bid, and British billionaire Ratcliffe will gain 25% of Manchester United’s equity. How did all this happen and what does it mean? The Athletic authors David Ornstein, Laurie Whitwell, Matt Slater, Dan Sheldon and Mark Critchley jointly analyzed.
Manchester United’s board of directors will vote recently to decide whether to sell the minority shares of the team to British billionaire Ratcliffe. Before that, the Qatar consortium led by Jassim had publicly stated that it would withdraw from bidding for Manchester United.
In last November, the Glazer family considered selling Manchester United, but whether it was the Qatar consortium led by Jassim or the INIX group of latcliffe, none of their offers impressed the Glazer family, which hoped to get 8 billion dollars, but Jassim and Ratcliffe estimated Manchester United at about 6.3 billion dollars.
Finally, Jassim’s Bidding representatives said recently that after discussions in recent days, they had informed the Glazer family that they would withdraw from the bidding process. In addition, some sources said that the Glazer family was preparing to sell 25% of its shares to Ratcliffe. Because of the confidentiality agreement, the source did not disclose too much information, but it is believed that Ratcliffe has reached an agreement with the Glazer family on the issue of principle, but the final result needs to be approved by the board of directors-key players of the team will meet in the next few days and vote on the proposed deal.
Although Ratcliffe’s 25% stake may allow the British billionaire to gain control of Manchester United’s sports, fans may still be disappointed-because they still have no way to say goodbye to the Glazer family.
Here, we will explain the latest developments and what we have learned and what may happen next. At the same time, we will also try to analyze what all this means to Manchester United.
How did things develop to this point?
On November 22, 2022, the same day that Ronaldo and Manchester United parted, Manchester United issued a statement saying that the Glazer family would explore “strategic choices” about ownership and investment “. This includes the possibility of selling Manchester United in full.
At the same time, the Glazer family also set a deadline for quotation, allowing all people who intend to buy or invest in Manchester United to submit their own quotation before February 17, 2023. Then on March 16, Jassim’s delegation went to Old Trafford stadium to meet with Manchester United’s senior officials and had a detailed communication. The next day, accompanied by his most trusted assistant, Ratcliffe met Richard Arnold, the CEO of Manchester United, and attended the relevant meeting.
In addition, US hedge funds Elliott, Ares, Carlyle and Sixth Street also expressed their willingness to acquire a minority stake in Manchester United.
After confirming that all the quotations had been submitted, Jassim and Ratcliffe revised the quotations again on April 28 (the latest bidding deadline after the delay). There are also reports that Ratcliffe has put forward a new idea. He hopes to acquire a majority stake of slightly more than 50% of Manchester United and allow Joel Glazer and Avram Glazer to continue to serve as Manchester United shareholders.
The news immediately attracted the attention of Manchester United Class A stock holders-this kind of stock is traded on the NYSE, and its voting rights are 10 times less than the Class B shares of the Greitzer family. Some of these investors even threatened to take legal action. The reason they gave was that their shares would shrink-after all, Ratcliffe did not intend to buy these stocks immediately, and other shareholders actually did not have any advantages enjoyed by the Glazer family.
Because of this, the members of Manchester United’s board of directors were so nervous that Ratcliffe had to readjust his offer. His new proposal is to reduce the acquisition share to 25%. There is news that he believes that the agreement contains terms that meet the previous problems. It is expected that Ratcliffe also hopes to continue to increase his shareholding ratio and become a major shareholder over time.
Ratcliffe has already discussed specific plans on how to achieve this goal. When asked whether Ratcliffe’s bid for 25% of the shares was as high as 1.3 billion pounds, a spokesman of the innix group refused to answer.
With more and more news about Ratcliffe’s acquisition of part of Manchester United’s equity, Jassim has also been having in-depth talks with the Glazer family in the previous week. It is said that the chief consultant Shahbaz also participated. According to sources close to Jassim, their bid increased from the “final” offer in April to almost twice the market valuation of the team’s 3.2 billion dollars. Their acquisition proposal also includes providing 1.7 billion dollars to the team to rebuild the stadium and training center, sign new aid and community plan-this number has also increased in the talks in recent days.
Why can the Glazer family stay at Manchester United for so long?
The Glazer family acquired its first stock in Manchester United 20 years ago. For them, this is the beginning of a good relationship, a relationship that they are always unwilling to give up. Who can blame them? At first, they just made some loans and charged some management fees. Then they listed Manchester United on the New York Stock Exchange and made a nine-digit windfall. After that, they settled down and lived a comfortable life and received dividends from Manchester United on a regular basis. Once this relationship is stable, it is difficult to let go, even if the initial happiness has already disappeared.
Speaking of it, this relationship was not wonderful at first, but now it is even more disgusting. Anyway, the Glazer family has proved how thick their skin is, and their closed community in Florida obviously cannot see how fierce the complaints of fans are.
Perhaps the more important question now is how long will the Glazer family rule in the Old Trafford stadium last? It’s been 20 years, how long will they have to suck blood here? However, any idea of hoping that the Glazer family would leave is nonsense. They won Manchester United for 0.79 billion pounds 20 years ago. Now they think this investment has expanded 8 times or even 10 times. Who knows? They obviously think that what they have is a hen that can get golden eggs. Who cares that they have too long?
Who will make a decision on Manchester United’s board of directors?
Perhaps what you want to know is that John Hooks, Robert Leitao and Manu, the three independent directors of Manchester United’s board of directors, Sawhney whether they can make a decision.
Their duty is to safeguard the interests of minority shareholders, ensure that everything conforms to the Articles of Association of the company, and let the six brothers of the Glazer family take responsibility. It is said that when investors threatened to take legal action against Ratcliffe’s 6-month acquisition plan, it was these independent directors who stood up to stop.
Among the 12-member board of directors, there are three other directors: CEO Richard Arnold, Chief Financial Officer Cliff Batty and legal adviser Patrick Stewart.
But this is still the team of the Glazer family, which owns 96% of the voting rights.
What changes will the team structure have taken place since Ratcliffe acquired 25% of Manchester United’s shares?
This largely depends on how much control Ratcliffe can gain after holding 25% of the shares. It is said that his deal is based on the premise of getting decision-making power, which brings uncertainty to the whole team.
Dave blesford is Ratcliffe’s sports coach, working in his cycling team and his French team nice, and he also hopes to have a job in Manchester United. It is not clear what this means for Manchester United football director murtav and people in his department. However, no matter what happens, Teng Hach’s handsome position is still stable.
It is expected that relevant negotiations on richard arnold will also begin-whether he can continue to serve as the chief executive officer of the team-although this may also depend on whether ratcliffe increases his stake in manchester united and when.
Why can minority shareholders also gain the sports control of the team?
Because this is Ratcliffe’s request, after all, he bought 25% of Manchester United’s equity at a premium. A person who owns only 25% of the company has no reason to have such huge rights. But Manchester United is a team first and then can be regarded as a company. The sports control of the team seems to be the most important.
However, the Glazer family is obviously more than we think. They are trying to push Manchester United into more fields, which in their view is a global advertising and retail brand in the leisure and entertainment industry. Even in their view, managing the team is actually a secondary issue.
As for the Anglo group, there are different views on this. As their cycling, sailing and running teams show, all this is related to sports. Pursuing excellent sports value is what innix has done. It was this spirit that drove Ratcliffe to create his own sports empire, and it was this spirit that inspired him to try to revive declining British brands, such as Land Rover guards and bedaf fashion brands, and now Manchester United.
Who is Ratcliffe?
The 70-year-old Ratcliffe owns the petrochemical giant company innix, which has 36 business departments and more than 26000 employees in 194 cities in 29 countries.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, his net assets are 13.6 billion dollars, but according to the annual rich list compiled by The Sunday Times, his value is 29.6 billion pounds, he is the second richest man in Britain. Ratcliffe claimed his “magic dream”, although he also tried bidding when Chelsea was listed for sale in 2022. At the same time, Ratcliffe already has two teams, including Lausanne Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland and Nice in southern France.
In addition to football, Ratcliffe owns one third of the F1 Mercedes team, a sailing team and a bicycle team. In London’s Belgravia district, Ratcliffe owns a bar called The Grenadier, and has a five-star hotel and a three-star hotel in England and France respectively. In addition, it also has two super yachts, “Hampshire” and “Hampshire II.
Why did Jassim’s Qatar consortium fail to acquire Manchester United?
In the future, we are likely to hear the following reasons to explain why they have not been able to acquire Manchester United.
We will hear that the Glazer family is worried about being robbed of the limelight by being richer, better, younger and more persona grata than them. We will hear that Jassim’s bid was opposed by other teams in the Premier League because they were afraid of competing with Manchester United supported by the Middle East consortium. Or, Uefa may feel that the Qatar consortium that acquired Manchester United and the Qatar consortium of Paris Saint Germain are too close, which will cause some trouble.
In any case, the Qatar consortium was unable to acquire Manchester United because their bid did not meet the expectations of the Glazer family. Originally, people would think that the Qatar consortium would directly open the check book and then write it casually to complete the acquisition of Manchester United. But he never thought that Jassim was a cautious buyer. He did not make a hasty acquisition because he knew it needed a lot of money to help Manchester United get out of the dilemma.
In short, he was so cautious that he finally lost the bid.
Will fans be happy about Ratcliffe’s acquisition?
Since 2005, fans have been protesting against the Glazer family because they completed the acquisition of Manchester United by leverage in 2005. Since then, Manchester United has been heavily in debt-their total debt has reached 0.725 billion pounds-and at the same time, Manchester United has paid considerable interest to repay the debt. The Glazer family also paid a dividend of about 0.165 billion pounds during their term of office, most of which went into their pockets.
For many years, protests against the Glazer family often took place outside the Old Trafford stadium, especially after they announced on last November that the team might be sold.
Ratcliffe’s acquisition of 25% of the equity will still retain the Glazer family’s position in Manchester United, at least at the beginning, so the result may face strong opposition from some fans. However, many fans are beginning to look forward to Ratcliffe’s complete acquisition of Manchester United.
If a new boss is changed, the team may have new capital injection, which will expand the team’s profit margin, and gain more freedom in the winter transfer window-this is also an important reason why fans hope Jassim’s Qatar consortium can complete the acquisition.
Ratcliffe’s acquisition has not made the same guarantee-at least not yet. Due to the existence of the Glazer family, Manchester United will have to continue to abide by FFP regulations.
What does this mean to Old Trafford?
Since the Glazer family realized the huge cost of renovating or rebuilding the Old Trafford stadium, they did not seem to start this plan. However, Ratcliffe’s acquisition proposal did not involve similar topics. This may mean that Manchester United needs further investment to raise funds for the upgrade of Old Trafford stadium.
What would happen if the Manchester United board opposed the sale of minority equity to Ratcliffe?
Then Ratcliffe needs to quote again.
(Armour)
Live broadcast bar, October 16 news the national football team will play against Uzbekistan in tonight’s friendly match. The reporter of Football News Hanbing wrote an article to analyze the national football team’s opponents and said that the Uzbekistan team is good at side attack, although the number one player, captain Shao murodov did not accompany the team, but there were 7 U23 Asian Cup in 2018 and 3 runner-up members of U23 Asian Cup in 2020.
The reporter said that the manager of Uzbekistan, Katani, has been stable since leading the team for one year. Only 3 games were lost in 20 games, and he once won 7 consecutive victories. Last year, the team not only drew in succession with Russia and Venezuela in the warm-up match, but also won three consecutive games in the official Central Asian Cup in June, only losing Iran 0 to 1 in the final. In September, Katanich led the team to the United States for training. Although there was a fiasco of 0 to 3 against the United States, there was also a 3-3 draw in Mexico.
The main framework of Uzbekistan’s squad for the warm-up match in China this time still focuses on foreign players. The number of foreign players is as high as 10, but the number one player and captain striker Shao murodov failed to be selected, it should be a great good news for the national football defense line. In the current lineup, Rubin Kazan defender ashumatov, defender abdoulaev who plays in the UAE, and midfield Ganev, the winger mascharibov who took over as the captain of shomudov and batun United striker Sergeyev are the leading roles.
Katanich focuses on 343 and 433 formation, and attaches great importance to side attack. Shao murodov was absent, and Ma sharibov, the left winger who once won with Ronaldo in Riyadh, was the main initiator of the attack. In the tactics of Katanich, it is an important idea for the front guard to increase the deterrent force of the side attack.
In the warm-up match with the national football team, Uzbekistan should be a tactic to drill against the possible opponent of the top 36, Hong Kong, China. He may follow the 433 formation like the Central Asian Cup to examine the status of the players. It is expected that tahgan’s cotton farmer teammates sayfeyev and aliyanov will start in the two wings. Ashmatov will take the center guard, and another center guard will be produced between husanov and yesmurodov. There is a high probability that the Trident of attacking masaribov, Sergeyev and urunov will continue to start.
(South Sichuan source)
Live broadcast bar, October 16 news in the 1/4 final of Argentina Cup held this morning in Beijing time, Cavani shot and broke the door. Boca drew talrius 1 to 1 and finally won the penalty kick war, advance to the next round.
According to ESPN statistics, Cavani has played 820 official games in his career, scoring 440 goals and scoring more than Neymar (715 439 goals).
(Wood)
Live broadcast on October 16 according to the report of football newspaper, the Beijing Guoan team, which had assembled on the 8th, is fully preparing for the last three rounds of league matches, and the team will fully strive for the Asian Championship qualification. At the same time, the complaint materials about Zhang Zhenzhe’s suspension of 7 games have been accepted by relevant departments.
After the intermission, Guoan will play the harbor away on October 20. In the standings, the harbor ranked first with 59 points and the second-ranked Shandong Taishan with 8 points. In the remaining three rounds, the harbor will win the league championship in advance as long as it wins this battle. Guoan is determined to compete for the Asian crown quota and will not let the harbor win easily.
In the standings, Guoan was 3 points behind Shenhua and Zhejiang, and there were still 3 rounds left, which could be fully pursued. The goal of the team was unified, that is, to return to the Asian championship next year. Entering the Asian Championship is particularly important for the Guoan club. First of all, the club will invest plus-sized next year to enhance its strength; Participating in the Asian championship itself will also bring more income to the club; In addition, as the first-class stadium in Asia, the new worker should also appear on the Intercontinental Stadium.
Guoan’s once most proud midfield is now in a hurry. Zhang Zhenzhe was punished and suspended for seven games, failing the next game of this season. The club has collected relevant materials and submitted them to the Football Association for appeal. Relevant departments have accepted them. Guoan and Zhang Zhenzhe are still working hard on this matter, hoping to have good results.
(Derison)
Live Bar, October 16 -spanish 32-year-old Zhongwei Inigo Martínez joined Barcelona this summer without a visa, but he did not get much playing time this season.
According to the data of the German transfer market, Inigo Martínez has played 3 games for Barcelona so far this season, with one starting and two substitute appearances, with a total playing time of 92 minutes. Among Barcelona’s non-goalkeeper players, he has the least playing time.
(Wood)
Live broadcast bar, October 16 -in this round of European preliminary matches, Scotland, who ranked second, won the qualification in advance because Norway 0-1, the third place in the group, lost to Spain.
Scotland has been able to reach the final match for two consecutive European Championships. The last time the team did this was in 1992 and 1996.
(Tangerine peel is not Orange)
Live broadcast on October 16 according to the report of Rome Sport, Inzaghi Xiao tried to sign inmobile, but was rejected by the players.
This summer, Lukaku and ZCare bid farewell to Inter Milan respectively. At that time, Inzaghi was planning to bring inmobile to Inter. He Called inmobile to persuade him to join, but it was rejected.
Later, iMobile was also pursued by the Saudi team, but he also refused. But now as the relationship with Lazio gradually breaks down, iMobile may decide to say goodbye.
(Rock sugar stew pear)
Live Bar, October 16 according to a report from all Juve, Liverpool will compete with Juventus for nice midfield K-Turam.
According to the report, Juventus will strengthen the midfield in the winter window, and the nice midfield K-Turam is one of the main goals. K-Turam can play in midfield and also serve as the back waist. His outstanding performance also attracted the attention of Liverpool, so it is not easy for Juve to sign him, the price of Nice may range from 25 million euros to 30 million euros.
Liverpool had shown interest in K-Turam this summer, but Liverpool had other priorities in the transfer market at that time, and finally did not reach an agreement with Nice on K-Turam.
(Iron Steel Fist)
Live broadcast bar, October 16 -a few days ago, the Spanish women’s football international Atana bonmatti talked about the current situation of women’s football when he was interviewed on Salvados, she said that if the women’s football team could not raise its salary, it would improve its sports conditions.
“I started playing football at the age of 6. I am the only girl in the whole club. My role models are men’s football. Harvey, Iniesta… you can often hear your parents say:” How can girls play football “this kind of sexist speech was a very difficult period. They were not used to girls and boys sitting on an equal footing, even doing better than boys.”
“I have experienced insults and quarrels, even hitting people, but I have my personality and I have survived. I don’t bear grudges, but it’s far more than that. I like to explain it with actions, but the road I take is not smooth.”
“Now, I’m still thinking when I go to the stadium, how can we play under such conditions? We are talking about the top professional league. In fact, our league has only changed its name. As far as the facts are concerned, I cannot see any change.”
“The annual salary of the players is only 21000 euros, which is a very low salary for professional players. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they have to go on business trips and stay away from home. It is obvious that they are not unfair. But we are not asking for the same salary as men’s football. We just think it shouldn’t be like this. What we want is decent conditions and fruitful commitments. The World Cup has brought a lot of benefits, and Barcelona has made a lot of money from us.”
“I didn’t expect more support from male football players. Obviously, I am feminist. I fought for the interests of women and an equal society. We can remove negative things from what has happened. The positive aspect now is that our voice is finally heard, not only at home but also internationally.”
(zoli)