Manchester United, offer of 6 billion from Qatar

A new sheikh faces the Premier League. A consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), formally announced today that it has presented an offer to buy Manchester United. And the number is crazy. According to the British press, there would in fact be 6 billion euros on the plate.

Confirmation

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The press release, which does not mention the value of the offer, reads: “Sheik Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani confirms that he has presented an offer for the acquisition of 100% of Manchester United Football Club”. The club was put up for sale in late November by its American owners, the Glazer family. The offer aims to restore the club to its former glory both on and off the pitch and, more importantly, to bring fans back to the heart of Manchester United Football Club.”

NO DEBTS

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If the bid is accepted, the club will be released from its debts, which currently stand at €580m, and its promoters will commit to “investing in the football clubs, training centre, stadium and wider infrastructure” . QIB is one of the largest banks in Qatar. Its majority shareholder is the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, which owns Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which controls Paris SG. The son of a former Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, 42, is said to have been a Manchester United fan since childhood.

MORE OFFERS

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However, it is expected that there will be further offers for the club, while the Glazers were hoping to receive concrete offers by today and would like to complete the sale by the end of April. British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and his petrochemical group Ineos, which already owns Nice in France and Lausanne in Switzerland, had so far been the only ones to make their interest public.