Sir Jim Ratcliffe is likely to make an offer for Manchester United after the Glazer family confirmed that the club is up for sale for a full or partial takeover.
Ratcliffe, who is often called Britain’s richest man, had already said that he was interested in buying the club he has followed since he was a child.
The petrochemicals billionaire, who started INEOS and already owns OGC Nice in France, was one of the people bidding for Chelsea. He lost out to Todd Boehly’s group, though, because he put in an offer after the deadline set by broker Raine Group.
In August, a representative for Ratcliffe said, “Jim is definitely a potential buyer if the club is for sale.” However, the man later changed his mind and said in public in October that the Glazers “don’t want to sell.”
Ratcliffe was also recently linked to a takeover of Liverpool, but INEOS seemed to rule out any move into the Premier League by saying that the group’s focus remains on making Nice a rival to Paris Saint-Germain in France.
Since Glazer’s statement on Tuesday night, though, it seems like things have changed.
Now, The Telegraph says that United is the only team that could change Ratcliffe’s mind. Now that the Glazers are open to offers again after it seemed like they were shut down in the summer, the Oldham-born 70-year-old will put together a bid.
His offer for Chelsea was £4.25 billion, but it is said that Glazers want more than $5 billion for Manchester United and that Ratcliffe is “wary” of overpaying.
People think that INEOS has already done their research on the club. However, they have a rule that any investment should pay off or increase in value “significantly” after three years. Even though Ratcliffe is a United fan, the Telegraph says he is expected to put “business logic before passion.”
INEOS has a growing sports portfolio that includes investments in Formula 1, cycling, and the Swiss football club Lausanne. There are no rules that say they can’t own more than one football team, but if Ratcliffe’s takeover goes through, United wouldn’t be able to play another INEOS-owned team in Europe.
