For the current owner, the American entrepreneurial family Glazer, there is a lot of money at stake: According to Forbes, Manchester United is worth $ 4.6 billion (4.26 billion euros), the club counts with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona among the three most valuable football clubs in the world. How much exactly the Glazers will ultimately ask is unclear – there is often talk of six billion dollars. The bidding race is being conducted very intensively, and the offers have recently been increased once once more.
But who is playing this game? One of the two currently publicly known interested parties is the British sports investor Jim Ratcliffe. The founder of the British chemical group INEOS is well represented in sports sponsorship – he is involved in cycling and Formula 1, and is even a sponsor of the “All Blacks”, the legendary New Zealand national rugby team. In football, Ratcliffe controls top division clubs from France and Switzerland.
“Not a crazy price”
In view of the competition, Ratcliffe recently told the Wall Street Journal that he did not want to pay a “crazy price” for United. In general, his only interest in the club is to “win something” sportingly, he vowed – because: United have a “social value”. Ratcliffe can sell this story reasonably plausibly, following all, the 70-year-old entrepreneur, ennobled with the title “Sir”, comes from the Greater Manchester region and, according to his own statements, has been a United supporter since childhood.
Qatari Sheikh also United fan
However, the club is also arousing the interest of investors outside of Great Britain – the Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Chalifa Al Thani stated this emphatically. The son of former Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani is chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank, the second largest bank and the largest private bank in the Emirate of Qatar. And as it should be, Sheikh Jassim also claims to have been a United fan since childhood.
A delegation visited the club in mid-March, but Sheik Jassim was not present in person. In any case, it was rumored that the talks went well – the conversation lasted far longer than originally planned, at ten hours.
The topic should also have been the announcement of an improved offer, as reported by the British “Independent” following the meeting. Such was then introduced and even increased once more at the end of the week – according to Sky Sports, it should currently be the equivalent of 5.67 billion euros. Ratcliffe had also recently made improvements – this was necessary because the Glazers are driving up the price with offer deadlines.
gait tightened
Before the heated bidding erupted, it was said that Qatari bidders intended not to pay too much for the club – a claim that British bidder Ratcliffe made when he recently visited the club in person. But the Qatari seem to have tightened the pace – their version of “not wanting to pay too much” weakened noticeably during their visit to Old Trafford, was read in the British media.
New case of Qatari “sportswashing”?
The focus of the visit was on what options Sheikh Jassim might have in terms of investments in infrastructure, women’s and youth teams, Sky News reported, citing information from the delegation. Apparently idealistic projects that are unlikely to reassure critics of a deal. On the contrary: Once once more, the accusation has been leveled that Qatar wants to do “sportswashing” with the deal.
The pattern is well known: it is regarding increasing the reputation of a company or – in this case – a country by associating it with a popular and respected brand. This can also happen in the course of events, the most recent example being the hosting of the soccer World Cup in Qatar. Although the event was accompanied by severe criticism in the western world, for example regarding the handling of human rights, in the end there was a boost in popularity for the emirate.
Only “greenwashing” of a chemical company?
But the fields of activity of Ratcliffe’s company INEOS are not free of criticism either. The chemical company is doing “greenwashing” with its wide-ranging sponsorship in sport, according to environmentalists. Greenpeace UK referred to the production of “plastic, chemicals and fossil fuels”. And the bidder competitor, the Qatar Islamic Bank, handles transactions for the oil and gas business and generates corresponding income from the sector.
“It is worrying that the Manchester United bidding process has turned into a dirty derby between fossil fuel-related companies,” a Greenpeace UK spokesman was quoted as saying by CNN Sports. Such companies would increasingly “look in the sports world for popular brands behind which they can hide their climate-damaging businesses,” it said.
archyde news with co-determination
But the duelists did not keep to themselves: at the end of the week, another investor who was willing to buy came out of the cover. According to British media reports, Finnish businessman Tomas Zilliacus also submitted an offer to buy United. The ex-Nokia manager has been in the online business since the investment company Mobile FutureWorks Group was founded in the 1990s. He also runs the investment firm XXI Century Capital.
In the bid for United, the businessman presents himself as an alternative to the other two bidders. His offer is obviously intended to flatter the fans, because 50 percent of the club should go to him, the other 50 percent should be acquired by supporters in the form of small amounts and brought into a cooperative.
“Not a healthy trend”
The promise: more influence for the fans on the fate of the club – and that via an app that Zilliacus supplies from its own company. If every fan takes part, it would cost less than the equivalent of three euros, he recently calculated. “The current trend, with billionaire sheiks and oligarchs taking over clubs and controlling them as their personal playthings, is not a healthy trend,” the 59-year-old was quoted as saying by the BBC.
In the event of a bid, he wanted to guarantee that United would be managed according to the principles of “dignity, equality, diversity and anti-racism”, he recently told the “Evening Standard”. This can be interpreted as an announcement once morest the competition from Qatar. And the prospect of co-determination is probably to be understood as a signal to the fans who have been sorely tried by the Glazer family in this regard.
“Love United, hate Glazer”
None of the potential new owners would lose a popularity contest once morest the current owner. Since the club took over in 2005, fans have protested once morest the Glazers, and the slogan “Love United, Hate Glazer” has become a staple both inside and outside the stadium. Thousands of fans even turned their backs on the club and founded their own (lower division) club, FC United of Manchester.
The accusation once morest the Glazers: The family only wanted to make profits from the powerful club and neglected all areas that would urgently need investment. Due to the Glazers’ mismanagement, the club would be left with hundreds of millions in debt. The Glazers had left the club with net debt well over $600 million in a leveraged buyout, which quickly fueled fan anger.
Or will the Glazers stay?
Recently, there have also been indications that the Glazers might retain control of the club and only allow a minority stake. As the British “Times” reported, the US company that owns AC Milan made a corresponding offer.
Whoever ultimately buys the club or shares in it, the new owner may incur some additional major expenses in addition to the purchase price. In the event of a bid, almost all interested parties would be affected by another, not insignificant problem in an individual way: The European Football Association (UEFA) currently prohibits one owner from controlling several clubs that are competing in UEFA competitions at the same time (e.g. in the Champions League or in the Europa League).
Buy with a trick
Roughly, this has the potential to affect a Qatari takeover in particular. However, precautions should be taken here, because Sheikh Jassim wants to handle the purchase through the Nine Two Foundation, which was set up specifically for this purpose. Because Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund owns the French club Paris Saint-Germain, the United acquisition through the foundation might aim to keep the structures of the two clubs separate so as not to conflict with the rules.
Ratcliffe, on the other hand, controls two clubs, OGC Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport. But he might benefit from the fact that he is only trying to acquire a majority stake of 69 percent in the club from Manchester United, while the prospective Qatari wants to acquire 100 percent. But Ratcliffe’s potential problem might end up being solved by UEFA anyway, which has recently been thinking aloud regarding allowing multiple participations.
