British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is confident of winning the battle to take over Manchester United, according to the Daily Record.
Ratcliffe, the chief executive of the chemical giant Ineos, has told friends he remains confident of winning the Manchester United takeover, the Daily Record reports.
Ineos declined to comment when contacted by MarketWatch. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s representatives have made no public statements on the takeover since they confirmed the submission of a revised bid last week.
Related: Manchester United stock slides 6% amid report takeover bids are below owners’ valuation
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus have also submitted improved bids for Manchester United. The values of the bids have not been revealed.
Shares of operator Manchester United Ltd. MANU,
ESPN reports that bids from Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe have been increased from around $5.53 billion but remain below the asking price of around $7.4 billion.
Manchester United: Sheikh Jassim, Thomas Zilliacus, submit improved takeover bids
Manchester United’s stock is down 0.9% premarket Tuesday.
Ratcliffe’s sporting links are strong: the billionaire, who ranks 27th on the Sunday Times Rich List, already owns the French Ligue 1 soccer club OGC Nice and the Ineos Grenadiers professional cycling team.
Sheikh Jassim is the chair of Qatar Islamic Bank and the son of a past prime minister of Qatar. The Sheikh’s Nine Two Foundation, which is handling his bid, was named in an apparent nod to Manchester United’s “class of ’92” FA Youth Cup-winning team, which included future stars David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt.
Related: Manchester United takeover drama continues as billionaire Jim Ratcliffe submits revised bid
Zilliacus is the founder of social-media organization novaM Group. He is also the former chairman of Finnish soccer club HJK and former co-owner of hockey team Jockerit.
The Finnish entrepreneur has urged Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim to join forces with him in a joint bid for the club. He says that his plan is to first buy Manchester United, then to set up a mechanism that enables fans to make an investment and vote to decide footballing matters related to the famous club.
The Glazers have come under intense pressure to sell the iconic English football club amid ongoing fan frustration over what is seen as underperformance. The club, one of the biggest names in world soccer, last won the Premier League in 2013. In 2021, the Glazers faced major backlash from fans over planned involvement in the controversial European Super League.
Manchester United: Finnish entrepreneur joins takeover race, wants rivals to team up in joint bid
In November, they confirmed they were exploring potential financial investment or an outright sale of the storied Premier League club.
