United fans breathed a sigh of relief when Sir Jim Ratclliffe acquired a minority stake in the club from the Glazers, but the process was agonisingly long.
New documents posted this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US shed some light over how the Manchester United deal eventually got done, and why it took so long.
The Glazers entrusted Raine Group with United’s future after
the US investment bank led the sale in May 2022 of Chelsea FC, achieving a
price of £2.5bn in an accelerated process due to the sanctions imposed on
billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich.
It didn’t take long for the Glazers to act — they began
talks with Raine the following month, according to those new stock exchange
filings. It took until November 2022 for the Glazers to confirm that they would
consider selling a stake in the club, in part or in full, raising expectations
of another highly competitive auction.
More than 170 interested parties made contact but
predictions of bids from Big Tech failed to materialise. Ultimately, Raine
whittled it down to a Qatari group led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and
Monaco-based British billionaire Ratcliffe.
Compared to the Chelsea deal, the United process — codenamed
Project Ruby — moved slowly. The stock exchange filings go some way to
explaining the drag. Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe both submitted several offers,
changing prices and reshaping the bid structures along the way. Ratcliffe’s
offer per share started at $22, and landed at $33.
The documents also claim that the Qatari suitor failed to
provide “customary financing commitment letters”, raising questions about how
viable the offer really was. One person close to the bid has disputed this
characterisation and insisted the money to finance a full takeover was there.
However much rivals gossip about Raine’s handling of the
deal — and gossip they do — the bank is due to collect a $31.5mn fee for its
work after emerging with yet another record valuation.
And it can add another big European club to its trophy
cabinet. Raine was an adviser when Silver Lake invested $500mn into City
Football Group, owner of Premier League champions Manchester City, in 2019, and
on the sale of Olympique Lyonnais in 2022.
Raine also advised both sides as Nassef Sawiris and Wesley
Edens welcomed new investment from investment firm Atairos into V Sports, the
owner of Aston Villa, just days before Ratcliffe struck his agreement with the
Glazers.
Executives can cash in
Two senior Manchester United executives stand to make
seven-figure bonuses from the sale of the 25 per cent stake in the club to the
British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, while the club’s former chief executive
Ed Woodward is also poised to cash in. (Ratcliffe is offering $33 per share, 63 per cent higher than the price on the NYSE).
Patrick Stewart, who took over as interim chief executive
late last year, and the chief financial officer Cliff Baty will earn a bonus
equivalent to twice their annual salary.
Stewart’s predecessor, Richard Arnold, had a £1.9 million
salary, so if his own bonus is anything similar to that figure he should stand
to receive more than £3 million.
If Woodward, who has just over 550,000 shares, sells 25 per cent of his shares, he would rake in £3.6m and still have a substantial shareholding in the club.
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