British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is currently in contact with US investment firm Goldman Sachs ahead of a possible bid to takeover Manchester United, Bloomberg report.
It is publicly known that the Glazers have put the club for sale and they have set a deadline of mid-February to evaluate suitable proposals on the table.
There is said to be widespread interest from Qatar and the Middle East, but Sir Jim is also in the race through his company INEOS. He is now weighing up an approach.
As per Bloomberg, the 70-year-old is seeking advice from investment firms such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in order to provide debt financing for the club’s takeover.
The banks are willing to fund the deal with bonds and loans, but as things stand, there is no certainty whether INEOS will proceed with a bid through any of the banks.
Glazers set to make sale decision soon
The Glazer family are prepared to part ways with United before the end of the month and there is expected to be multiple bids in the region of £5 billion.
As per The Times, there are at least five bidders ready to meet the valuation and it is left to be seen whether Sir Jim will match the figure in the coming days.
United need huge investment in their squad and stadium facilities going forward and priority could be given to an owner/consortium willing to pay on their own.
Bonds and loans would only restrict the future outlay on the club and in our view, Sir Jim could probably lose out in the bidding race if he were to make a proposal.
Hence, it seems most likely that investment could come from Qatar or the Middle East. It has been reported that a wealthy Qatari group are confident of a takeover.
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