Neither Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani nor Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be granted exclusivity during the Manchester United takeover process.
The Peoples Person covered a report which indicated that the United sale is entering its “endgame” with the Glazers now expected to name a preferred bidder.
Sheikh Jassim through his Nine Two Foundation is leading the race to buy the Red Devils.
It was stated that Sir Jim and INEOS are “losing confidence” about their prospects of beating Sheikh Jassim to United.
Ben Jacobs has now reported that neither Sheikh Jassim nor Sir Jim will enter a period of exclusivity.
Instead, both suitors have been readied to “win” or “compete.”
An exclusivity period is not seen as necessary to conclude the process. This is because many of the talks and procedures that would have typically been associated with a preferred bidder have been done already by both groups.
Jacobs has now given an update and said that Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation and Sir Jim’s INEOS have received communication in the form of formal letters about this development.
Jacobs says, “Both Nine Two Foundation & INEOS have been told in process letters exclusivity won’t be granted.”
“There’s still no plans to exclusively negotiate with one group.”
“This isn’t a negative. Means both groups being readied to ‘win’ pending a green light.”
Jacobs points out that the advancement of proceedings almost renders granting an exclusivity period redundant.
A preferred bidder, commonly associated with exclusive negotiations, would obviously add public clarity and feel like an update because it would entail the Glazers showing their hand. But things are more advanced than this, with both Nine Two Foundation and INEOS.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 24, 2023
Meanwhile, supporters remain frustrated about this protracted saga and the negative implications it has on the current transfer window.