Man Utd takeover ‘clause revealed’ as bidder can ‘force’ the Glazers to sell all shares at ‘huge price’
Man Utd bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have the chance to ‘force’ the Glazer family to sell their remaining shares if his takeover is successful.
Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are leading the race to become Man Utd’s new majority stakeholder. They have consistently been at the front of the queue since the Glazer family put the football club up for sale last November.
Earlier this week, Sheikh Jassim submitted a last-minute bid to the Glazer family in an attempt to outdo Ratcliffe.
Recent reports have indicated that Ratcliffe is likely to beat Sheikh Jassim in the takeover fight. The INEOS chief is willing to keep the Glazer family on board with a reduced stake of around 20% while the Qatari businessman is only interested in an all-or-nothing proposal.
‘Finance expert’ Kieran Maguire has now ‘revealed the takeover clause’ that will be at Ratcliffe’s disposal if he gains control of the Premier League giants.
The Brit “can force the Glazers to sell the rest of their shares at an agreed price” at a future date.
“There is a cash flow element to this decision,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“A put-and-call option means that Ratcliffe can force the Glazers to sell the rest of their shares at an agreed price in the future. This gives all parties a degree of flexibility going forwards.
“Joel and Avram Glazer are convinced that Man Utd is considerably undervalued in the market and that‘s why they want to still have skin in the game.
“Ratcliffe may be the wealthiest man in the UK but INEOS has other responsibilities and I don’t think he’ll want to overburden his cash flow with a huge takeover price. A deal like this allows him to spread the cost.“
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Stan Collymore thinks the Glazers are “using” Ratcliffe to “force” Sheikh Jassim “into upping his offer”.
“Newcastle aren’t the only club facing an important summer. Man Utd will also be expecting to make some big-name signings but there is huge uncertainty surrounding who the club’s next owners will be,” Collymore wrote for Caught Offside.
“In my opinion, although it’s turned into a bit of a circus, it’s quite straightforward – the Glazers know Sheikh Jassim can pay pretty much whatever he wants and Sir Jim Ratcliffe can’t, so they’re using Sir Jim as a way to force Jassim into upping his offer in order to get as much as they can before they sail off into the sunset, and hopefully are never heard of again.
“If Man Utd is sold, I am sure it’ll be to Qatari owners. The biggest problem could be the time in which it happens though. Ten Hag needs a resolution in place as soon as possible, because the longer this goes on, the longer it’s going to take his plans for next season to get into motion.”
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