A fresh offer has now been officially submitted after confusion on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has submitted an improved bid to buy Manchester United after being given an extension to submit his offer.
A delegation of advisors working on behalf of Sheikh Jassim and his ‘Nine Two Foundation’ – named in homage to the Class of ’92 – visited Old Trafford last week for talks with United’s hierarchy and were given access to the club’s books.
The Qatari group were one of several to meet with United, with as many as eight offers having been expected prior to Wednesday’s deadline – although the time period was belatedly extended by Raine, who are marketing the sale, late in the evening amid some degree of confusion.
Sheikh Jassim was ready to submit his offer before Wednesday’s 9pm deadline, but when an extension was offered the Qatari group opted to use the time to fine-tune their bid even further.
Not all of the offers are to buy the club outright, with around half proposing minority stakes or potential financing to other bids – such as US hedge fund Elliott Management.
The first round of the process saw bidders submit brief statements of intent and proof of finances, with no offer exceeding the £4.5billion mark – well short of the Glazer family’s £6bn asking price.
But the second round sees more concrete offers put forward to Raine Group and a fresh statement has now confirmed that the Qatari bid has officially been submitted with Sheikh Jassim prepared to stump up a mammoth fee.
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A rumoured offer in the region of £5billion would eclipse the $4.65bn (£3.8bn) sale of NFL team the Denver Broncos when they were bought by the Walton-Penner group last year – the biggest sporting takeover in history.
Sheikh Jassim is one of two front-runners who have emerged in the race to buy United, with the other being INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe – who has also made a record offer after personally visiting Old Trafford and Carrington last week.
There is no guarantee that the Glazers will sell the club, however, and they will consult with Raine over the next week to evaluate the bids and decide their next move.
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A fresh offer has now been officially submitted after confusion over Wednesday’s deadline.