Old Trafford latest
Ratcliffe set to lose out to Qatari Man Utd bid
Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to have lost out to Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim in the battle to buy Manchester United.
An offer in the region of £6bn is reported to have been accepted by the Florida-based Glazer family, who put the club up for sale nine months ago.
A boyhood United fan, Ratcliffe owns petrochemical giant Ineos, part-owner of the Grangemouth chemicals plant, and was the first formal bidder when the process began.
The 70-year-old’s offer is thought to be based around a partial buy-out, with the Glazers retaining a stake, while the Qatari bid is understood to involve a complete acquisition which would erase all debts, allow redevelopment of Old Trafford and significant investment in the first-team squad.
An official announcement confirming the deal could come in a matter of weeks, according to newspaper reports in England.
The news saw the club’s shares jump by nearly 6 per cent in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Glazers bought the English Premier League club in 2005 for £790m.
Last year Ratcliffe lost out in his £4.25bn attempt to buy Chelsea, the Clearlake Capital consortium led by US billionaire Todd Boelhy winning the race to lead the Stamford Bridge outfit into a new era following Roman Abramovich’s reign.
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Every time the stock share goes down Reports of a buy out appears then shares go up and the glazers tell everyone that they have no intention to sell the club. Wake up everyone