Manchester United: announcement imminent for Sir Jim Ratcliffe deal to buy 25% stake
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe expects his deal to buy a minority stake in Manchester United to be announced on Sunday. The British billionaire has agreed to spend about £1.25bn to acquire 25% of the club and gain control of football operations.
Ratcliffe’s first priority may be to replace Richard Arnold, who has left as chief executive. Jean-Claude Blanc, the CEO of Ratcliffe’s Ineos Sport, is a favourite to replace Arnold. Sir Dave Brailsford, the Ineos sporting director, may also take a prominent role, though whether this will be to replace John Murtough as United’s football director is unclear.
Ratcliffe, who previously attempted to buy Chelsea, wanted to buy a majority holding in United from the Glazers but has had to settle for a quarter of the club.
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Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani withdrew from the takeover process after making little progress with his £5bn offer for United, paving the way for Ratcliffe’s deal. Ratcliffe owns two football clubs, Nice and Lausanne, plus the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team and a sailing team.
The Failsworth-born businessman founded and runs Ineos, the petrochemicals and fracking company. Blanc has held executive posts at Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, and Brailsford was British Cycling’s performance director for 11 years during which a strategy founded on “marginal gains” drove GB to head the sport’s medal table at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
More details soon …