Manchester United owners the Glazer family have asked PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to help increase the bid made by Sheikh Jassim. The Glazers are asking for £6 billion, and Sheikh Jassim last week filed a fifth, revised offer, which is thought to be his final one and totals about £5 billion. He apparently also spoke with the Raine Group to go through the deal. Sheikh Jassim also contacted the PSG president about his proposal, although al-Khelaifi has simply been asked for guidance.
Sheikh Jassim thinks his offer is fiercely competitive and will be extremely advantageous for Manchester United, eliminating over £1 billion in debt and creating a separate fund to renovate Old Trafford, the neighbourhood, and the team’s Carrington training facility. Although Sheikh Jassim’s offer is for the entire club, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS rates United at a higher price and would allow the Glazers to retain a 20% ownership position. In May, United’s share price dropped to $18.80 on the NYSE, giving the team a $3.09 billion (£2.47 billion) market valuation.
“That would be very, very important because Al-Khelaifi is one of the most influential people in world football. He is the president of PSG, the chairman of the European Club Association, a member of the UEFA executive committee, and the head of Qatar Sports Investments, which manages the country of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund’s sporting investments,” Kaveh Solhekol said after the Glazer family asked PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi for help. “It matters whether he’s participating in the takeover for two reasons. First of all, it would imply that PSG’s president is also participating in efforts to acquire Manchester United, which would result in a plethora of issues and challenges from a competitive and sports standpoint. Second, if he participates, it suggests that Sheikh Jassim is essentially making a bid on behalf of the state of Qatar as the Qatari sovereign wealth fund would be participating.”
Prestige means everything to the Qataris. They are without a doubt competing and hoping to prevail. They want to avoid seeming to be beaten since they are already so far along. We now have a fresh bid since it’s all about money.
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