(Original title: The Manchester United acquisition entered the bidding countdown, and the rumors of the Qatari consortium’s bid once once more stimulated the stock price to rise)
News from the Financial Associated Press, February 13 (edited by Shi Zhengcheng)With the deadline for the acquisition of Manchester United approaching, every move of the super rich continues to stir the heartstrings of the capital market. As of press time, the news that the Qatar consortium is regarding to make an offer before the market on Monday once once more triggered Manchester United’s stock price to rise by more than 5%. Just last Thursday, the news regarding the investment from the rich in the Middle East also caused Manchester United’s stock price to surge by more than 8%.
(Daily chart of Manchester United, source: TradingView)
According to informed sources,With the help of the Qatar Investment Authority and local family offices, the Qatari consortium will submit an initial offer this week.February 17 was also the soft threshold set by the Glazer family for all acquisition proposals, and they called in the Raine Group Bank of the United States to handle matters related to the sale.
The still-mysterious Qatari consortium
Although Qatar Capital has been rumored to acquire Manchester United for a long time, until today no one has been able to clarify who/companies constitute Manchester United’s potential new owners.
At present, the outside world’s impression of Qatar Sports Capital mainly comes from Qatar Sports Investment Group (QSI). Paris Saint-Germain, which they invested heavily in, also has top stars such as Messi, Mbappe and Neymar. However, subject to UEFA’s control restrictions, the top teams participating in the Champions League cannot have the same owner. Therefore, QSI can only own a small part of the equity of the Premier League club at most, just like they become a minority shareholder of the Portuguese Super League team Braga.
Therefore, in media speculation, the entity that ultimately purchased Manchester United may be a consortium of ultra-high-net-worth millionaires, or the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which owns the British Harrods department store and the tallest building in the Shard. According to informed sources,At present, the Qatar consortium has not yet finalized which entity will be responsible for providing the funds for the acquisition of Manchester United. A spokesman for the Qatar Investment Authority declined to comment when interviewed by the media.
Adam Sommerfeld, a sports investment expert at Certus Capital, interpreted that,In order to successfully acquire Manchester United, the potential offer must exceed at least 4 billion pounds, which also makes this transaction expected to set a record for a sports team.
But for Qatari investors, capital is the least of the problems. In order to host the just-concluded Qatar World Cup, Middle Eastern countries have invested a total of more than 200 billion U.S. dollars in infrastructure investment. Adding credence to the deal rumors is the fact that Qatar’s head of state, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is also a longtime United fan.
A potential competitor of the Qatari consortium,At present, only James Ratcliffe, the richest man in Britain and the chairman of Ineos Group, has publicly announced that he is ready to acquire the transaction.He is preparing a potential offer with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
In addition, according to the British “Daily Mail” report on Monday, people familiar with the matter revealed that Musk, the world’s second richest man and a veteran fan of Manchester United, is considering the opportunity to acquire Manchester United, but the credibility of this news is doubtful. Musk also joked on Twitter last summer that he was preparing to buy Manchester United, but he later explained that he would not buy the team.
