Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has finally withdrawn from the race to buy Premier League club Manchester United
Sheikh Jassim and Ineos billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were the leading candidates to take over the club from the Glazer family. But it is understood that the Qatari’s valuation was not sufficient for the Glazers, who have owned United since 2005 – so Sheikh Jassim has withdrawn from the process.
Sheikh Jassim is understood to have raised his offer for Man United but it was not Glazers rejected the offer despite being far more than the club’s $3.3billion valuation on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano Sheikh Jassim has had further discussions with the Glazers family to buy 100% of Manchester United, but the bid proposition has been rejected again by the Glazers family. As a result — Sheikh Jassim informed Glazers that he is ready to withdraw from the process.
“Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim is prepared to leave the negotiation process to buy Manchester United. At the moment the takeover with the Qatari group is more than complicated,´ Fabrizio said in a video shared online.
“Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim and his group had new negotiations with the Glazers with financial advisers to discuss Man United and Sheikh Jassim presented a new proposal to buy a 100 per cent stake at United, but the Glazers family again rejected the new proposal.
“Sheikh Jassim wanted to have full control of Manchester United, but the Glazers were not willing to sell a 100 per cent stake.
“The current official valuation of Man United is $3.2billion, but Sheikh Jassim’s bid was almost double the valuation. He also committed an additional initial amount of over $1.5 billion to invest in United to finance the new plans in recruiting players, helping the academy, and training centres, but the Glazers family said no to the offers and Sheikh Jassim has decided to leave the conversation to buy Man United club.”
It was earlier reported that Ratcliffe is willing to take on a minority stake, which would allow the Glazer family to stay in charge for the time being.
However, the takeover saga looks set to continue with no clear end in sight, as United return to action after the international break against Sheffield United.
