Everything You Need To Know About Man Utd Bidders, Qatari Investors & Jim Ratcliffe

Both Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS and Qatari financier Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and INEOS submitted offers to purchase Manchester United before the deadline on Friday.

THEEAGLE highlights important facts you need to know about Manchester United bidders.

READ ALSO: Qatari Investors, Sir Ratcliffe In Bidding War For Man United

Before the soft deadline expired, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar made Manchester United a second acquisition offer.

As soon as the infamous Glazer family announced their intention to sell the club in November, interested parties had until Friday night at 10 p.m. to submit and formally express their interest. Yet for any takeover, that was viewed as a starting point.

Al Thani’s plan to buy United in its entirety and pay off the team’s debts was confirmed in a statement. What else do we know about the person who is behind this most recent attempt?

Who is Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani?

The potential buyer, who was born in 1982, is reportedly a lifelong United devotee. Between 2007 and 2013, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al Thani was Qatar’s prime minister. He is well-known in the sporting world as the owner of the French team Paris Saint-Germain.

Al Thani received his education at the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, England, where he earned an officer cadet diploma. He currently holds the position of chairman of QIB (Qatar Islamic Bank), one of the top banks in the nation that was founded in 1982.

QIB has offices all around the world, one of which is in the UK. Prior to this, Al Thani served on the boards of Credit Suisse Group AG and Credit Suisse AG Zurich.

What did the statement from Al Thani say?

A statement released to broadcast and written media on Friday night read: “Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani today confirmed his submission of a bid for 100 per cent of Manchester United Football Club. The bid plans to return the club to its former glories both on and off the pitch and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more.

“The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience, and communities the club supports.

“The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world. More details of the bid will be released, when appropriate, if and when the bid process develops.”

Which other parties are interested in an offer?

British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe formally announced his aim to buy United in January after having long been linked to a takeover, or at least investing in his boyhood club. Sir Jim is a well-known businessman who founded the renowned chemical company INEOS and was born and reared in the Manchester region.

He talked about last year’s conversations with the Glazer family. It is believed that there are further potential American buyers as well as connections to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

How rich is Sir Jim Ratcliffe?

Ratcliffe was named Britain’s richest man when he earned a knighthood at the 2018 Birthday Honours, albeit he has since dropped in the rankings.

Ratcliffe’s net worth is believed to be between £6 billion and £11 billion (according to Forbes) (Sunday Times). Ratcliffe was listed as the 27th richest person in the UK in the most recent Sunday Times Rich List.

He amassed his money by founding the petrochemicals company Ineos, which has 194 sites spread over 29 countries and generates sales that are thought to be in the neighborhood of £50 billion. The company has around 26,000 employees.

How serious is Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid?

Hard to say right now.

But if Ratcliffe wasn’t serious about buying the club, you wouldn’t think he would be getting involved. One advantage this strategy has over the Chelsea bid is that he seems to be pulling everything together just in time this time.

“We have formally put ourselves into the process,” Ratcliffe’s spokesperson told The Times – and that’s officially as much as we know of their involvement in the race.

At this point in the procedure, Raine Group, the bank overseeing the potential sale of United, is the place where interested parties declare their interest.

Due diligence will be required in the upcoming term. Formal bids may be submitted beginning in February, with the goal of having the sale concluded by the end of the 2022–23 season.

“I think we need to remember, with the United sale here, the Raine [Group] bank who are in charge of this process, they’re aiming for a complete sale of Manchester United in the first quarter of 2023,” The Athletic’s football correspondent David Ornstein recently told NBC Sports.

“And therefore, the Glazer family are not going to be willing to sanction a massive outlay of cash on transfer deals at this time of the year.

Has he been successful at Nice?

“Ineos bought Nice in August 2019 for €100m. The intentions have been very good, to be fair,” ESPN’s Ligue 1 transfer expert Julien Laurens told Sky Sports’ The Transfer Show.

“You can see he wants to do well. The investment has been good. On the Ligue 1 and Nice scale, they have spent €200m in those three-and-a-half years they have been at the club.

“Before Man Utd fans say that is what we need to spend in one summer, not three years, Nice do not have the revenue Man Utd have. Ligue 1 doesn’t bring in the same money the Premier League brings in. You have to remember the scale.

“They have invested a lot of money in youth players and, to a certain extent, that has worked. However, in terms of results on the pitch it has been a bit underwhelming.”

Patrick Vieira led Nice to a fifth-place Ligue 1 finish in their inaugural year as an Ineos team. The legendary manager of Arsenal was fired midway through the following season, when the team ultimately finished ninth, following a five-game losing streak.

Nice finished fifth last year under the direction of Christophe Galtier, who is currently at PSG. However, the team is having trouble this year and is slipping to midtable under returning manager Lucien Favre, as Premier League veterans like Aaron Ramsey, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ross Barkley, and Kasper Schmeichel are unable to ignite the French top division.

What happened to Ratcliffe’s Chelsea bid?

Ratcliffe eventually became involved in the race to purchase Chelsea when Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale last year. He allegedly offered £2.5 billion and pledged to put $1.75 billion into the project during the first ten years.

Two weeks after the deadline, he made an offer, but Todd Boehly’s consortium had already been given preferred bidder status by that point.

“We’ve had an email to say: ‘Forget it, you’re not in the process,’” Tom Crotty, Ineos’ director of communications and corporate affairs told The Telegraph.

It was a case of too little too late for Ineos, with Boehly’s bid the one that went through.

Does Sir Jim Ratcliffe actually support Man Utd?

He tells a story that looks too good to be true, but it turns out to be true.

Ratcliffe, the son of a joiner and an office worker, grew up in a social housing development in Failsworth, Greater Manchester.

“I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. I was there in that most remarkable match in 1999 in Barcelona. That is deeply etched in my mind,” Ratcliffe told the Financial Times in October.

The 70-year-old seems to have a genuine passion for sport, with Ineos owning three football clubs, the Grenadiers cycling team and a stake in the Mercedes F1 team.