Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, a son of the former prime minister of Qatar, has submitted a weighty bid to acquire the club based in England, Manchester United.
The owners of Manchester United, The Glazers, put out a formal sale process last year which would allow interested suitors to put their head in the ring to see who comes out tops for the bidding war.
Manchester United’s sale is expected to break records for the sale of a sports business. According to Reuters, the majority share owners of the Red Army, The Glazers family, want an amount as staggering as seven (7) billion pounds.
Based on a research conducted by market research firm Kanter, the most successful club in English League football history which has won the Premier League on twenty (20) occasions have got an estimation in excess of 650 million fans across the globe.
The statement from Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani camp
A statement from a spokesperson representing the prospective buyer, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani who is the chairman of Qatar Islamic bank, one of the biggest banks in the Asian country, Qatar, reads:
“Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani today confirmed his submission of a bid for 100% of Manchester United Football Club.
The bid plans to return the club to its former glories both on and off the pitch and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more.
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, the fan experience and the communities the Club supports.
The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world.
More details of the bid will be released, when appropriate, if and when the bid process develops.”
Interested buyers who want to purchase the club had been instructed to put in a bid amount and evidence of funds after which the group vetting and running the sale process would draw up a shortlist.
Raine Group is the investment bank saddled with the responsibility for the sale processes.
Based on information from several sources, the bid from Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is one of the several tabled offers Manchester United have already gotten. The initial soft deadline set by Raine Group for bids ended 10pm on Friday night.
Potential buyers of Manchester United
Jim Ratcliffe, a United Kingdom billionaire, who is a lifelong supporter of Manchester United and founder of chemicals company INEOS, is another expected bidder in addition to private equity firms in the United States Of America.
The United Kingdom billionaire has in the past spoken of his desire to acquire the Manchester based club.
On Thursday, it was reported that Saudi Arabia has also put their head in the ring as they submitted a bid for the English giants.
According to Deloitte, Manchester United is the fourth-richest football club across the globe and they are one of the most valuable sports institutions in the world.
The deal for the Red Army would expectedly rise above the biggest sport deal for now which was an amount in excess of $5.1bn that included debts and investments which was paid for the acquisition of Chelsea Football Club in 2022.
The amount “The Glazers” spent in acquiring Manchester United
The Glazers family acquired Manchester United for an amount in the region of seven-hundred-and-ninety-million pounds (790m) in mid 2000s, precisely 2005.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani confirmed interest in acquiring the Old Trafford based club sparked a wide range of optimism from fans of Manchester United across the globe as many think it’s a step in the right direction.
The father of Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and he was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 3 April 2007 to 26 June 2013.
He was also the foreign minister from 11 January 1992 to 26 June 2013.
Manchester United’s interested buyer was born in 1982 and is said to be a lifelong supporter of Manchester United.
Al Thani was educated in the United Kingdom at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, where he graduated as officer cadet.
Qatari’s have also been greatly involved in the business of sport in recent time with Qatar Sports Investment currently headed by Nasser Al-Khelaifi acquiring French side Paris Saint Germain over a decade ago in addition to hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Paris Saint Germain was acquired by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in June 2011.
