British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe (71),먹튀검증 who founded Ineos, a global chemical company, declared a takeover competition with Qatari capital for Manchester United (Man United, England).
According to the Associated Press and Reuters on the 19th (Korean time), Ineos said in a statement that it had officially participated in the bidding, saying, “We are trying to invest again to make Manchester United the best club in the world.”
He added, “I want to return my influence in Manchester to Manchester United, which has a proud history rooted in the northwest of England. In particular, I want to focus on winning the UEFA Champions League (UCL).”
This is an official announcement from Ratcliffe, one day after the Qatari consortium announced that it had submitted a proposal to buy Manchester United from the Malcolm Glazer family, an American sports conglomerate.
Previously, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani said the foundation participated in the tender, saying it would “invest in football teams, training centers, stadiums and the wider infrastructure and community.”
In particular, he emphasized that he would purchase the entire stake only with net assets without debt, and emphasized the financial power of Middle Eastern capital.
Against this, Ratcliffe is known as a longtime Manchester United fan.
Ineos, representing Ratcliffe, stressed that “we will take a modern, forward-looking and fan-centric approach to club ownership.”
Unlike the current owner, the Glazer family, it is interpreted as a strategy to put forward the club management policy that does not enmity with fans.
He also expressed interest in acquiring Manchester United through the media in August of last year, and admitted last month that he had started preparing for the takeover.
According to Bloomberg News, as of August last year, Manchester United’s club value was estimated at 5 billion pounds (approximately 7.6 trillion won).
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Ratcliffe’s fortune is estimated at $13.6 billion.
He is ranked 131st in this index, and is the second richest person from the UK after James Dyson (104th, approximately 21.2 trillion won), the founder of a famous home appliance company.
After acquiring Lausanne Spor, a Swiss professional football club, in 2017, in 2019, he purchased a stake in French professional football league 1 Nice through Ineos and became the owner.
Early last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he participated in the acquisition of England’s prestigious Chelsea, which was put up for sale, but failed to achieve his goal.
In 2005, the Glazer family, which bought stock from major shareholders of Manchester United and acquired the club for $1.4 billion (1.82 trillion won), began the sale process in November of last year.
In a statement at the time, Manchester United said, “We have decided to seek strategic alternatives for the club’s future. We will consider new investments, sales and other transactional options as alternatives.”
While Qatar and Ineos have officially announced that they have entered the takeover bid, the U.S. hedge fund Elliott also announced its intention to participate in the war at the last minute, the British daily The Times reported, citing sources.
It has not yet been disclosed what kind of takeover plan the hedge fund, which owned and sold prestigious AC Milan in Italy until last year, proposed.
According to The Times, Elliott is known to have rejected the “complete takeover” method of securing a majority stake like Qatar and Ineos.
Founded by billionaire Paul Singer, Elliott is one of the world’s largest hedge funds with assets of $56 billion (72.8 trillion won) as of the second half of last year.
After finishing 6th last season and failing to qualify for the UCL, United are doing well this season under manager Eric Tenhagh.
With 14 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses in the league, Manchester United (46 points) is in third place after Arsenal (54 points) and Manchester City (52 points).