Manchester United Sale Finalist Still Confident

Reports earlier this week indicated that the Glazer family is close to securing minority investment in Manchester United — thus maintaining majority control of the club.

Nevertheless, one of the finalists to buy the team outright is still confident he'll succeed.

Sheikh ­Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani — chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank and a member of the Qatari royal family — believes that the Glazers will accept his reported bid of at least $6.2 billion to buy the majority stake in Man United.

Sheikh Jassim has flaunted the fact that he will not need to borrow money to pull off the purchase, while his fellow finalist, the British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, would reportedly need to take on debt to finance his bid.

A third finalist to buy the team outright, Finnish billionaire Thomas Zilliacus, exited the bidding war after the Raine Group, the facilitator of the sale, asked for a third round of bids.

Glazers Move Closer to Outside Investment, Keeping Man United

The Glazers hope to double the value of the club.

April 17, 2023

The Carlyle Group, which is the largest private equity firm in the world, has previously expressed interest in buying a portion of the team, as have Elliott Investment Management, Ares Management Corporation, and Sixth Street Partners.

Shares likely to be sold are those owned by Kevin, Bryan, and Edward Glazer, as well as Darcie Glazer Kassewitz — all of whom have indicated they would sell for the right price.

Their siblings, Joel and Avram Glazer, are Manchester United's co-chairmen and have shown reluctance to sell the team as the sale process has dragged on.

For more on how sports impacts business and culture, subscribe to the Front Office Sports Today podcast.

The post Manchester United Sale Finalist Still Confident appeared first on Front Office Sports.

Photo by Nat Callaghan on Unsplash