Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani has increased his bid to buy Manchester United, sources have confirmed to 90min.
After three rounds of bidding, the deadline for offers to purchase United passed on April 28th and the process – managed by American investment bank Raine Group – looked to be coming to an end.
Current United owners, the Glazers, have been discussing their options with Raine, and as 90min confirmed earlier this month they had been favouring accepting an offer from Sir Jim Ratcliffe which would see his company INEOS taking control but also leave the family with a stake in the club. Accepting said bid would mean that current co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer to remain on the club’s board.
However, Sheikh Jassim – who has made the offer via his Nine Two Foundation – has now made an improved offer which would see him taking 100% control of the club.
The Sheikh has promised huge investment both on and off the field, including wiping out the current debt of over £500m which has been incurred under the Glazers’ unpopular ownership.
Sources, though, insist that Sheikh Jassim’s new bid is still less than the overall value that Ratcliffe’s bid has placed on United – which is close to £6bn.
News on the process was due to be made public this week, with preferred bidding status set to be announced. However, the new bid from Sheikh Jassim is likely to delay that further while it is considered and assessed.