Sheikh Jassim is ready to buy for a fair price but he will not be reckless; there is a general acceptance that whoever buys United will have to overpay; Sheikh Jassim's indicative bid for United values the club at about £4.5bn which is shy of the Glazers' £6bn asking price
Friday 10 March 2023 10:52, UK
The Qataris will walk away from their bid to buy Manchester United if the price is not right.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani is ready to buy for a fair price but he will not overpay.
There is a general acceptance that whoever buys United will have to overpay but that does not mean Sheikh Jassim will be reckless.
Last week, his father Sheikh Hamad questioned bidding for United by saying he "doesn't like the investment".
Sheikh Jassim's indicative bid for United values the club at about £4.5bn.
The Glazer family think United is worth at least £6bn.
Sheikh Jassim shares the same investment philosophy as his father. He used to run his father's investment company and both men are described as "smart, savvy, cautious investors".
Sheikh Jassim has been offered other clubs in the past but he has only ever been interested in buying United. He is only interested in buying 100 per cent of the club. He has zero interest in a minority investment.
At least three bidders for United have been invited to Manchester over the next fortnight for presentations, meetings and access to detailed financial information about the club.
A delegation representing Sheikh Jassim and the other leading bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe are expected at Old Trafford next week.
Some of the bidders had been expecting to have been granted exclusivity by this stage. There are concerns Glazers are trying to use minority bidders to drive up the sale price or that they do not want to sell the club.
It's worth pointing out Qatar Sports Investments bought Paris Saint-Germain in a €70m deal in 2011 and today has offers for minority stakes which value the club at €4.2bn. QSI has invested €1.8bn in the club.
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol answers all the big questions as the Glazers drag their heels over the sale of Man Utd...
What is a fair price for Man Utd?
"According to the New York Stock Exchange, they think Man Utd are worth £3.5bn.
"Everybody knows that Man Utd are a trophy asset, so you have to pay a little bit more. I am sure the Qataris and Jim Ratcliffe are willing to pay a little more.
"But they aren't going to pay the Glazers crazy money for Man Utd."
Do the Glazers want to sell?
"That's a good question. I think some of the bidders are thinking, 'what is exactly going on at the moment', because surely if the Glazers wanted to sell one of us would be granted exclusivity at this stage. That means the process would have moved along very quickly and that would mean the Glazers were very serious about selling the club.
"I think there are concerns that the Glazers don't want to sell and also that what they do want to do is sell a minority stake. And they may be using the interest in buying a minority stake to try and drive up the price of the club.
"They may say, 'look we've got a US hedge fund, who want to buy 20 per cent of United for £1bn, that means the whole club is worth £5bn'. That is something that could be happening behind the scenes.
"I think if the Glazers wanted to sell the club at all costs this process would have moved along a bit quicker and one of these parties would have that period of exclusivity."
Are the Glazers open to sell the club if the price is right?
"I think they are. Think about it as if it were a house - it's a nice house, in a good location but it needs a bit of work and you are thinking, 'Hmm, I'm not sure I want to invest more money in this house and pay for the refurbishment, I am going to stick it on the market and see what interest I get'. That is what the Glazers have done.
"People will say £4.5bn is a world record for a sports club - the record at the moment is Denver Broncos, which was bought for around £3.75bn.
"For the Glazers, the club effectively belongs to them, they have total control almost of the club and if they do not want to sell they don't have to. But they only ever put £200m of their own money into the club and you are going from turning that into £4.5bn or £5bn - a lot of people would say, 'take the money now, how much more do you want to put up with fan protests? You would have made an incredible return on your investment'."
"The other problem is if the Glazers don't sell now, what is going to happen to Man Utd's share price? Ever since they came out in November and said they were looking at alternative strategies which could lead to the club being sold, the share price has doubled. So if they were now to turn around and take the club off the market and stay, that effectively could mean that instead of having a club worth £4.5bn or £5bn, they would maybe have a club that is back to being worth £2.5bn."
