Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have released an official statement to the press concerning their bid for Manchester United Football Club.
Yesterday evening, The Telegraph revealed that Sir Jim and his INEOS group had submitted an official bid to takeover Manchester United from the Glazer family.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar is the only other known party to have officially lodged a bid to buy the club.
It has been reported that Ratcliffe has found Wall Street backers to help fund his takeover offer.
Recent reports have alleged the figure to be in the region of €4.5billion.
Fans have become slightly disillusioned by Ratcliffe’s potential ownership due to the unconfirmed debt situation. The nature of the Sheikh’s Qatari roots, meawhile, has been a problematic topic due to the nation’s entrenchment in controversy, namely its treatment and viewpoint of migrant workers, women, and LGTBQ+ persons.
Across 17 years of ownership, the Glazer family, who also financed their takeover through bank leverages, has piled approximately €600million of debt onto the club.
INEOS made approximately $61billion in revenue last year.
The statement, delivered by an INEOS spokesperson, reads as follows:
“We can confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have submitted a bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Football Club.
“We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community. We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again.
“We also recognise that football governance in this country is at a crossroads. We would want to help lead this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership.
“We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the North-West of England, putting Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focussing on winning the Champions League.”
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