Manchester United Sale! Bids Come in from Qatar, Jim Ratcliffe, Saudi Arabia to Buy Red Devils

Manchester United’s sale is expected to shatter records for the sale of a sports business. The club’s current majority owners, the Glazer family, are seeking a valuation as high as 7 billion pounds ($8.42 billion).

A deal for Manchester United will likely exceed the biggest sports deal so far, which was the $5.2 billion – including debt and investments – paid for their London-based Premier League rivals Chelsea, sources told Reuters previously.

United are the fourth richest football club in the world, according to an analysis by Deloitte. They are widely seen as one of the most prized assets in all of sport.

The Glazers bought United for 790 million pounds in 2005 as part of a highly-leveraged deal. The club has said it expects to generate up to 610 million pounds of revenues in its 2023 fiscal year and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of up to 140 million pounds.

Here are the bidders who want to buy Manchester United –

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is the son of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and is one of the richest men in the Gulf state.

“The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure,” said a statement from a spokesperson representing Sheikh Jassim, who is the chairman of QIB, one of the top banks in Qatar.

Jim Ratcliffe

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a lifelong United fan and founder of chemicals firm INEOS, has also reportedly bid too. Ratcliffe also owns Ligue 1 side Nice.

Saudi Arabia

The Daily Telegraph reported that Saudi Arabia has also submitted a bid but any Saudi Arabian investment in United would prompt outrage from human rights groups, who have spoken out against the Gulf state following the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Elon Musk

Lastly, Elon Musk, who is the Tesla CEO and also owns Twitter, posted a message on social media that he wants to buy Manchester United even though it is unclear that he has the financial resources to make a bid.

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