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An INEOS spokesperson has confirmed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s second bid for the majority takeover of Manchester United has been successfully submitted.
Prospective buyers for the club were given until Wednesday at 9 pm to table their revised bids after talks were held at Old Trafford last week.
It later emerged that Raine Group, the merchant bank acting on the Glazers’ behalf during the takeover process, did not receive second bids from Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
The two parties requested a deadline extension, a request that wRaine granted
Raine pushed up the deadline until 9 pm GMT on Friday.
INEOS and Ratcliffe have now sent their offer , while Sheikh Jassim is expected to do the same in the next 24 hours.
INEOS group spokesperson: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS can confirm we have submitted a revised bid” 🚨🔴 #MUFC
Sheikh Jassim’s Qatari group, preparing their final bid too. pic.twitter.com/9Yix5mNhto
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 23, 2023
It was conveyed that both Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are committed to overseeing the takeover process. Both parties, who are heavily regarded as the frontrunners, are confident of being successful and emerging victorious.
Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are adamant that they are committed to buying #mufc despite not submitting their seconds bids yet [@sistoney67]
— utdreport (@utdreport) March 22, 2023
A bidder who will not advance to the next stage is Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus.
Zilliacus released a statement where he laid bare his unique offer to purchase the Red Devils. Zilliacus proposed to buy half the club through his own investment.
The purchase of the other 50% would be done by fans. In his statement, Zilliacus said that fans would contribute around $3. An app would then be downloaded from which supporters can participate and vote on critical club-related decisions.
The Mirror reports that Zilliacus’ bid has been rejected, and other bidders have dismissed his suggestions as just a farce and publicity stunt.
“The bid has been dismissed as unworkable and not a serious proposal by rival bidders, who believe only a complete takeover of the club by a single buyer will persuade the Glazers to sell.”
After all the bids are in, interested parties will wait a few days before getting feedback.
It remains to be seen whether the Glazers choose one particular buyer to enter into a period of exclusivity with or the American family will hold a third round of bids to stir the pot even further. The latter is more likely.
