Qataris make last ditch bid for United

The Qatari Sheikh looking to buy Manchester United has submitted a last-ditch offer to seize control of the Premier League club.

While bidders were invited to submit their final offers to the New York bankers overseeing the sale last month, The Times understands that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani made an improved, final offer on Tuesday in an attempt to see off his main rival, British petrochemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

By the end of last week Ratcliffe and his team at Ineos had emerged as strong favourites to buy the club from the Glazers, with a deal that valued United higher than the Qataris while offering Joel and Avram Glazer the opportunity to retain about a 20 per cent stake.

Even now, the new Qatari offer falls short of Ratcliffe’s valuation, which could end up close to £6 billion if he then completes the full purchase of the club in the next two to four years.

But Sheikh Jassim is offering to buy 100 per cent of the club now, albeit for a price nearer to £5 billion. Insiders insist the Qatari offer represents a significant increase on their opening bid.

Conscious that they had not offered enough in the third and concluding round of bidding last month, the Qataris are clearly now hoping they can regain the initiative with what was being described as the final offer.

Ultimately, it now comes down to two of the six Glazer siblings — presently the club’s executive co-chairmen — to decide if they want to retain a stake at Old Trafford.

Initially, Ratcliffe and Ineos had indicated a desire to purchase the 69 per cent share held by the Glazer family. But it became increasingly apparent that Joel and Avram were more reluctant to sell than their siblings. Ratcliffe came up with an alternative offer that enabled them to remain involved though the petrochemicals billionaire and his associates will have control once a takeover has been completed.

The deal is complicated by the split between B-shares, which carry powerful voting rights, and the A-shares on the New York Stock Exchange, and it is likely that more talks will be needed to thrash out the exact terms of the deal which could take a number of weeks.