Avram Glazer and his family want £6bn for Manchester United (Credits: Alamy Live News.)
The Glazer family were shocked to recieve just two formal offers for the club and there’s a sense they’ve ‘misread’ the market by putting Manchester United up for sale with a £6billion asking price.
The Americans made the surprise decision in early December to put the club on the market, though they stressed that it would not definitely result in the sale of the company.
The six Glazer siblings are split as to whether to continue as club owners, with Avram and Joel believed to be keen to remain in charge.
However, they reluctantly put the club on the market to at least raise some capital, what with Old Trafford requiring at least £1bn in rennovations and the club’s Carrington training ground now outdated.
But the Raine Group, who are overseeing the process, have received just two formal indicative bids for the club from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim.
Ratcliffe’s offer is around #4bn (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Both bids are believed be worth no more than £4bn, which is significantly short of the £6bn asking price the Glazers have set.
United’s trading price would value the club at around £3.7bn, while there is £600m worth of debt as well as at least £1.2bn renovations needed for the stadium and the training ground.
Nevertheless, Ratcliffe and Jassim acknowledge that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own the club and they’re willing to pay more than the club’s valuation.
Avram Glazer is keen to remain at Manchester United (Credits: Action Images via Reuters)
But the Glazers feel the bids are not reflective of the potential value of the club, given United are yet to fully maximise their commercial value and worldwide appeal.
With the bids so significantly below the Glazers’ asking price, Sky Sports say the family have ‘misread’ the market following Chelsea’s £4.25bn sale last year.
The takeover, by Todd Boehly, saw the American pay £2.75bn and commit to a further £1.5bn of spending over the next decade.
But the sale was unique due to the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich and the need for the sale to go through as quickly as possible.
It leaves United’s future in the air and the Glazer family may decide to keep the club unless the two interested parties significantly raise their bids.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
It would not go down well.
