Interesting Highlights On Man Utd Takeover: What does Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% stake in Man Utd mean for the Glazers?
A lot happened on November 22, 2022. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo officially left Manchester United, and the Glazer family took the club on the field.
Almost a year later – although it seems much longer – Argentina are reigning world champions, Ronaldo is the iconic figure of Saudi Arabian football and United’s transfer window may have reached that mark .
On 14 October 2023, it was reported that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had outwitted Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani in the two-horse race for United by agreeing to buy a minority stake in the club.
Here’s everything you need to know about Ratcliffe’s proposal and how it would affect United’s hated owners, the Glazers. At the April deadline for the revised bid, Ratcliffe offered to buy 51% of the club, making Joel and Avram Glazer minority shareholders. However, there are clear concerns that the structure of Ratcliffe’s offer – buying shares only from the Glazers – would reduce the value of shares held by the club’s remaining shareholders. The threat of legal action is said to have destabilized United’s board of directors.
So, while looking for a back door to join his boyhood club, Ratcliffe came up with the idea of securing a minority stake in United, as revealed by 90min at the beginning of October.
The owners of petrochemical giant INEOS have submitted a revised offer for a 25% stake in the club for a whopping £1.3 billion, but with the option to buy more shares in the future. Ratcliffe’s high-profile offer – which values the club at more than £5bn – is understood to come with the condition that he will be responsible for all sporting decisions – i.e. have the right to choose the director of football football, first team coach and possibly even signings. DO.
With Sheikh Jassim withdrawing his bid for 100% of the club and Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreeing to buy a 25% stake, it looks like Gazers will remain at Man United for at least some time… 😬 pic.twitter . com/G3LsgP7BlO
The day before Ratcliffe was welcomed outside Old Trafford by Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold in March 2023, a delegation representing Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation was escorted around the Theater of Dreams. dream.
After the US hedge fund glut dissipated after the first soft deadline in spring 2023, Jassim’s cash offer for 100% of the shares cemented his position as a competitor. Ratcliffe’s most serious paintings.
However, after months of negotiations – which never lifted the veil of mystery surrounding Jassim, a man whose own spokesman has not exactly aged well – the Nine Two Organization withdrew from the race after refused to increase his final offer. This final offer was worth £5 billion and came with a promise to clear the club of £725 million of debt accumulated by the Glazers, while also providing a further £1.4 billion to fund a new stadium, a training center and a transfer center.
The Glazers value United at £10 billion, much higher than the £2.6 billion valuation based on the club’s stock market position. Despite possessing a supposedly huge fortune, Sheikh Jassim does not want to dig deeper into his pockets.
The original text of United’s press release last November appeared to reveal as much. The “process of exploring strategic alternatives” includes “new investments in the club, sale or other transactions involving the company”. Even though fans begged them to leave, the Glazers never committed to a complete break.
By purchasing only 25% of the club’s shares, including the club’s shares.
By purchasing only 25% of the club, including shares from the Glazers and other investers to avoid any legal headaches, Ratcliffe is not removing the American family from United’s helm.
It remains to be seen whether the Glazers will relinquish sporting control to Ratcliffe – that has never been an overriding interest for the family – but they will still very much be a significant part of the club. After cashing in around £165m in dividends since their leveraged buyout in 2005 – more than £9m per year – why would the Glazers give up such an easy revenue stream for anything less than their wild valuations?
The decision to accept Ratcliffe’s proposal will be made after a vote from the club’s board in the coming week. The six Glazer siblings fill half of the dozen seats but boast 96% of the voting rights. If they want this deal to go through, it will.
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Wolves
- GK: Josa Sa (7) – played very little to do in the first half but made some fantastic saves in the second to keep his side at level.
- RB: Nelson Semedo (6) – Was above average in the first half but struggled with play in the second as Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz doubled up on him.
- CB: Craig Dawson (7) – Continues to age like fine wine and made one superb block late on from Luis Diaz. Will argue he was fouled for Liverpool’s third.
- CB: Max Kilman (7) – Put in a good performance in the heart of defence for Wolves and could only watch as his side missed chance after chance.
- LB: Rayan Ait-Nouri (6) – Struggled more in the second half as Liverpool went on and he was taken off with an injury.
- CM: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (8) – Wolves’ summer signing already looks like a player they’ll struggle to retain and was absolutely everywhere for the home side in a wonderful midfield performance.
- CM: Mario Lemina (6) – Did a lot of assisting work in midfield and helped keep Szoboszlai largely for much of his nice encounter.
- CM: Joao Gomes (7) – Tactical shift from Liverpool left him somewhat bypassed in the second half.
- RW: Hwang Hee Chan (6) – Gave his side a 7 minute lead but looked drained towards the end of the first half and was sent to the bench on the hour mark as his side experienced more pressure.
- ST: Matheus Cunha (5) – Was wonderful Until towards the end of the game, where he missed two clear chances that will have left Wolves wondering what if.
- LW: Pedro Neto (7) – The best player on the pitch for half the game, Neto created the chance for the opening goal and gave Gomez a terrible first half. Liverpool’s changes left him largely anonymous in the second though.
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Substitutes
- Fabio Silva (6) – Didn’t have much of an impact when he came on.
- Matt Doherty (5) – Came on and didn’t have an impact the game.
- Hugo Bueno (5) – Came on for the injured Ait-Nouri and was unlucky to see an effort deflect off him for Liverpool’s third.
- Boubacar Traore (5) – A clear step down from those he replaced, he couldn’t get into the game.
- Tommy Doyle (5) – A disappointing debut but showed flashes of his talent when he came on.
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Liverpool
- GK: Alisson (5) – Didn’t have much to do as Wolves try to find the target.
- RB: Joe Gomez (3) – Had a torrid afternoon against Pedro Neto, who most times left him for dead in the first half.
- CB: Joel Matip (5) – Lack the confidence as first-choice options for Liverpool but did okay. But was much improved in the second half when his side dominated more of the ball.
- CB: Jarell Quansah (6) – Enjoyed a strong debut for the Reds until he left the pitch with a late injury.
- LB: Andy Robertson (6) – Was Liverpool’s best player in the first half, though he did lose his man for the opener. Made up for it late in the match by scoring the winner.
- CM: Alexis Mac Allister (4) – Largely lacks composure in the first half and picked up a needless yellow card before being taken off at the interval.
- CM: Dominik Szoboszlai (7) – Had his worst half in a Liverpool shirt so far and couldn’t seem to find his usual passing style, but controlled the game in the second and was excellent in a slightly deeper role.
- CM: Curtis Jones (5) – Largely anonymous but covered a lot of the pitch and worked hard.
- RW: Mohamed Salah (6) – Had poor game compared to his own high standards and was hardly involved, but made those involvements count by helping with three great assists in a show of his continued quality.
- ST: Cody Gakpo (5) – Missed two good chances to level the scoring. Scored the needed equaliser with his last touch as a small redemption for his performance.
- LW: Diogo Jota (5) – Had a difficult afternoon and was taken off the pitch after an hour.
Substitutes:
- Luis Diaz (6) – Helped with Liverpool’s balance in the second half without any direct impact in the final third.
- Darwin Nunez (7) – Okey when he came on and helped Liverpool’s improvement towards the second half.
- Harvey Elliot (7) – Was strong advancing forwards and got his reward with a deflected goal to seal all three points.
- Ibrahim Konate (6) – Was just on for the final 10 minutes.
- Ryan Gravenberch (N/A)– Handed his debut almost at stoppage time.
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