Another turn in the Man Utd takeover story! Sheikh Jassim was left “angry” when bidders from Qatar asserted that they had met the asking price and had given evidence of finances.
The Qatari company claims, as reported by Daily Mail, that they nearly matched Manchester United’s £4.5 billion asking price—a sum that is somewhat less than Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s approved bid—as well as the promise to pay off all outstanding debt. They are incensed by United’s allegations made to shareholders by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the Qatar group did not provide sufficient evidence to support the funding source and did not satisfy the valuation established by the Glazer family, the club’s owners.
According to United’s complaint, “Bidder A”—the Qatari bid—failed to deliver “customary financing commitment letters” on multiple occasions. Insiders dispute this assertion, claiming that a variety of financial documents were given, including a separate bank guarantee from the CEO of Qatar National Bank, the biggest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa.
The annoyance also stems from Sheikh Jassim’s pledge to provide an immediate infusion of approximately £1 billion ($1.3 billion) into the infrastructure, a sum that pales in comparison to Ratcliffe’s group’s proposed £237 million investment to refurbish Old Trafford. Furthermore, the Middle Eastern group maintains that the final bid from Qatar was significantly larger than what United claim—roughly £4 billion.