Club Sale | It’s done!
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Apparently the ratcliffe bid is £1billion less than the Qatar bid.
No surprise that the media are going all brexity on an “English bid” or however it was phrased
It also shows we will have a genuine fan on the board, somebody that thinks with his heart and not just financially.
That's been the big issue with the Glazers. None of them gave 2 shits about United, it was all about making the best profit.
The Qataris won't skimp and save, they'll get the best option for United whether it's a player, a swimming pool or a chef.
If the glazers stick to wanting a higher price, I can only see 1 raising their bid and it won’t be JR
If that’s true then we have nothing to worry about. The Glazers will sell to the highest bidder no matter what.
Sir Jim isn't exactly a regular there either.
Yep. First English team in Euro final after the Heysel ban.
"Always look on the bright side of life" had foreign press gushing about us.
Party times.
Narrowly beaten by Leeds with everyone on the edge of their seats, as to if United could break their 25 hoodoo.
All after a teenager "saved Fergie's job" in an FA Cup run of huge importance.
Pretty sure nobody would notice something like that.
You would think the Qatari bid will just keep increasing if that's what it takes to win, it will most likely come down to who the Glazers want to sell to and for what reason if it's ultimately not about the final sale price. Like do they want to still be involved in some capacity or do they want to sell to Americans etc.
You were not born in 68, but you do know about our European Cup winning team don’t you?
But certainly not how it was perceived in ME
Calm down mate. The way you are getting hyper about it, you'll get an aneurysm.
Qatar as a State obviously has a long way to go for many things, but I find it funny you are having a meltdown over the "PR spin" about this Jassim guy being a supporter from 1992. Irrespective of where it's true or not, looks like you've never seen or heard of big businesses doing PR work to boost their image. Even Ratcliffe and Ineos would be doing a bunch of it considering the industry they are in.
Bit of a difference between knowing about a European Cup victory in 1968 and knowing how many middle eastern fans we had in 1992.
Yet many on here are confident that Jassim was definitely not a United fan and all of this is a lie, based on what then?
These aren't real bids anyway. They could also be factoring in 100% of the shares which aren't actually up for sale right now as the Glazers only own around 67%.
After the first round they will get a look at the books and things will change. I don't think there's a chance the Glazers are getting the 6 Billion figure they've been bandying about.
Is there any further context in the Athletic piece about Ratcliffe's bid not stating they'll clear the Glazer debt?
I started following United because of hype around Beckham in 2002 world cup. That was the first year i actually watched football and got to know post world cup that there is some english league where he plays. Next few years, Chelsea blew everyone apart in transfer window and results and Beckham left the following year. But it didnt change the club i had decided to follow.
People choose clubs for variety of reason. Arsenal has massive support still around the world and they have been not successful since 2004. Sure success helps but that is not the only reason. I had no idea when i started watching United about its history and success. Sometimes its as simple as a player that you know about plays for that team.
Guess after last decade, you can say maybe they started during success period (not all but a large majority ) but popularity of United all around the world shows that people do stick with their team.
Sir Jim could partner with an investment firm like Elliott as an example. These aren’t the final bids
Agree with all of it. The bids will change after seeing the books. This was just throwing in their hats so that they make the initial cut. We'll see how this unfolds.
I would not put it past them to stay, but we could see Everton-style scenes if the Glazers did not sell up now.
They are playing a poker game with our club. They want very last penny. Qatar look like the only ones in the game.
They are playing a poker game with our club. They want very last penny. Qatar look like the only ones in the game.
As a result of the Glazers’ leveraged buyout in 2005, as well as credit facilities, the net debt of Manchester United sits at £656million. This would need to be wiped to make the club debt-free, although the club also owes more than £200m in transfer fees.
The Qatari bid on Friday night spelt out an intent to rid the club of debt. They said: “The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation.”
The Ratcliffe bid made no formal statement about debt but, behind the scenes, it has provided assurances that no “fresh debt” (ie, any money borrowed to acquire United) will be landed onto the club’s balance sheet and will instead be borne by INEOS.
However, the Ratcliffe bid has not said it will wipe existing debt from United, which is, from a communications perspective, tricky to overcome. Debt has been regarded as a dirty word at Old Trafford due to the years of vast repayments that have leaked out of the club to serve the interests of the owners.
The Ratcliffe bid was also unable to clarify whether any interest owed on borrowings to acquire the club would be burdened upon United, although it would be highly unusual for another company to shell out on INEOS’ behalf.
The flipside to this is that it is unusual (to put it mildly) for a multi-billion dollar acquisition to happen without some debt involved. Even Elon Musk, for example, borrowed money to acquire Twitter last year, and in the football world, it is unusual, outside the world of sovereign funds or Russian oligarchs, for deals to not have any financing by debt. Ratcliffe is keen to state that the debt will be his, rather than the club’s.
The Ratcliffe bid insists he does not want to take money out of Manchester United and says he is seeking to achieve a personal ambition of controlling his boyhood team.
The Qatari bid on Friday night spelt out an intent to rid the club of debt. They said: “The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation.”
The Ratcliffe bid made no formal statement about debt but, behind the scenes, it has provided assurances that no “fresh debt” (ie, any money borrowed to acquire United) will be landed onto the club’s balance sheet and will instead be borne by INEOS.
However, the Ratcliffe bid has not said it will wipe existing debt from United, which is, from a communications perspective, tricky to overcome. Debt has been regarded as a dirty word at Old Trafford due to the years of vast repayments that have leaked out of the club to serve the interests of the owners.
The Ratcliffe bid was also unable to clarify whether any interest owed on borrowings to acquire the club would be burdened upon United, although it would be highly unusual for another company to shell out on INEOS’ behalf.
The flipside to this is that it is unusual (to put it mildly) for a multi-billion dollar acquisition to happen without some debt involved. Even Elon Musk, for example, borrowed money to acquire Twitter last year, and in the football world, it is unusual, outside the world of sovereign funds or Russian oligarchs, for deals to not have any financing by debt. Ratcliffe is keen to state that the debt will be his, rather than the club’s.
The Ratcliffe bid insists he does not want to take money out of Manchester United and says he is seeking to achieve a personal ambition of controlling his boyhood team.
Both bids are for Glazer share only. For other A class share, they dont need to bid to Glazers.
Think the confusion came from the wording of statement. Qatar may have plans for 100% ownership later, but the bid will take all of Glazers shares. Same as SJR. Just in SJR case they might not intend to take the share that is publicly traded. Hence they used “majority “ stake.
The wording was vague, they said no additional debt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t clear the existing debt.
People said this stuff 30 years ago when Sky got involved, just because you can't see where football is going doesn't mean others can't. In 10 years time most teams in the top 6 will be owned by states or billionaires, there may even be some sort of super league by then that replaces the Champions League with a bigger prize pot. A lot of the talk on here reminds me of what my grandad used to say when the TV money came into football, and yet here we are...
Thanks! So it seems that the "fresh debt" line came from Ineos. Could just be a miscommunication but they'll need to clear that one up as that should be the minimum bar for any bid to clear.
I’m starting to think whoever is doing PR for Jim’s bid is secretly on the Qatari payroll I’m convinced he is going to clear the debt and he wouldn’t use club funds to pay the loans but why isn’t he saying that! It’s early days but the narrative is already being formed and he isn’t helping to shape it.
I’m convinced he is going to clear the debt and he wouldn’t use club funds to pay the loans but why isn’t he saying that! It’s early days but the narrative is already being formed and he isn’t helping to shape it.So, as an aside, has anyone considered that City's defence against FFP charges, could end up being a campaign to free up Qatari spending, should their bid be successful?
That could be hilarious.
That could be hilarious.
That is irrelevant because he lived and was educated here as a child/young man.
We should be worried about City's spending should they win the case and go on a spending spree in retaliation. They will dominate for decades and other clubs will actively seek investment to compete. I'd rather be ready for that scenario before it happens in all honesty than be scrambling after the fact.
Surely that will be cleared up in the next round of bidding as they know not clearing existing debt is a deal breaker for most United fans. Ratcliffe's face was on the banner made by the 1958 fan group back in August, he's been paying attention to Glazer out protests so he knows what United fans want. They got it right with the line about making fans the centre of his proposed ownership. He needs to clear up the debt situation next.
They've probably specified that in their bid but not released it in the PR. It will get out at some point though, surely someone from the press is going to ask them to clarify.
Is that completely true though? Because they may want to negotiate and complete the full take over now.
The board can accept a purchase price that includes a price per share for any publicly traded stock. It will then go to the shareholders whether they have any opposition, which you think there wouldn’t be any as the shares will be at a premium and the majority seems to be held by investment firms.
As for SJR, I don’t think there’s any intention to ever buy the remaining shares.
Yes it's a sad state of affairs for modern football in England. Should've been regulated much better like Germany, instead is a free for all with despots. Alot like the country as a whole.
If we can match City pound for pound financially, then we shouldn’t be worried about their spending in that case. We are Manchester United and they are City at the end of the day. All long-term success is that hardest thing to maintain, there will be some shit years to come for City and they will need to change things up a bit, probably sooner rather than later.
It's all just words though and clearing over £500m in debt is no simple promise even for someone as wealthy as SJR. For Qatar its pocket change.
There's no reason why a foreign fan cant be as dedicated to the local area as he is, in fact based on the statements about spending money in the local area Sheikh Jassim has given us more commitment so far.
SJR clearly expected the brexit brigade to line up behind him against the foreigner but thankfully, from what I've seen, that's not happened. When it comes to ownership, I couldn't give two shits if you were concieved under the scaffolding at the Stretford end. What matters is you invest in the club and the community.
Personally I don’t think it matters if he’s even a fan or not
Sir Jim is United fan but wanted to buy Chelsea. That is confusing shit.
I know business is business but i don't know how you can be a big football fan of one club and own direct rival.
I know business is business but i don't know how you can be a big football fan of one club and own direct rival.
Do we know the actual size of the bids?
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