Who buys Manchester United?
This process has been going on for 7 months. Personally think that Sir Jim is going to be the preferred bidder, sadly. I just want the Glazers to get out of the club.
United fan here too.
From what I understand, and to keep it as brief as possible:
Sir Jim offers to buy the whole club eventually, for argument's sake let's say 51% of shares now, giving Glazer's some authority into the future & allowing them to hold whatever else they have too.
Sheikh Jassim offers 5bn cash, 1bn guaranteed in infra (Old trafford renovation, the training facilities at Carrington, and some dedicated to transfer budgets - rumoured to try bring in big names like Mbappe/Neymar should they take over). This is also the Qatari's final offer. He will walk away after today, but leave the bid on the table I believe.
Sir Jim is more attractive to Glazers given they get:
- A kickback of 3bn ASAP (when club was worth 2bn or something just a year or two ago), and then naturally, they expect a new owner to restore the club's stature (through Jim's own money) & therefore making their remaining shares appreciate in value (without any inherent investment of their own - thiscould be wrong so feel free to correct). When the time comes to sell their remaining shares in the future - assuming Jim becomes successful i.e. winning the Premier League, a Champions League etc. in the next 5-10yrs, the Glazers will (overall) receive more for the club.
- It is also believed Sir Jim's deal allows the Glazers to hold some position of authority until the time comes. Maybe this is something they want too.
To be honest, even once the Glazers leave as owners I think the shares will be impacted positively. Remember the 60% jump in November when they initially announced they were looking to sell - but this might be negated by the fact the Glazers still retain a position of authority in Jim's deal.
Whereas Sheikh Jassim wants to improve the club's actual infra with the 1bn guarantee (which every fan would prefer), I think the Glazers are more fussed about getting the largest return on their money, even if that's into the future - as well as retaining some form of authority within Man Utd (which therefore presents Jim as their best option).
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