Manchester United shares have fallen notably in pre-market trading with a full sale of the club less likely as billionaire Sir Jim Ratclife pursues a minority stake.
Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani’s withdrawal from the bidding process emerged at the weekend after he was unwilling to meet the valuation of owners the Glazers.
But it was already known that Sir Jim was offered a new investment structure that could be more amenable to the Glazers. There is a proposal to buy around 25% of the New York Stock Exchange-listed company through Sir Jim’s Ineos Sports vehicle.
Shares were trading more than 10% lower in pre-market trading on Monday.
A structure of a potential deal with Ineos, which was first reported two weeks ago by Sky’s Mark Kleinman, would see Ineos acquiring chunks of both the Glazers’ shares, which have greater voting rights, and the stock publicly traded in equal proportion.
Sir Jim’s offer could see Ineos spend around £1.5bn to acquire a quarter of United’s shares based on the Glazers’ apparent £6bn valuation of the club.
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Monaco-based billionaire Sir Jim, who owns French club Nice, grew up supporting United but tried to buy Chelsea last year.
The search for fresh investment that could lead to a full sale was launched last November by the Glazers with United in need of investment in the dated Old Trafford and training ground infrastructure.
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United have not just fallen behind rivals off the pitch but also in the Premier League in the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson delivered a 20th league title before retiring.
Half of the eight league games have been lost so far this season to leave Erik ten Hag’s side mid-table. They are also struggling in the Champions League, having lost the opening two of six group-stage matches.
Protests have been persistent since the Glazers bought United in 2005 and loaded debt onto the club that exceeds £500m.
