Man Utd takeover insider drops major ‘preferred bidder’ claim as Glazer’s raise ‘competitive tension’
According to reports, the “fixation with a preferred bidder” for Man Utd is “largely unhelpful” as the Glazer family want “maximum competitive tension”.
The Premier League giants have been up for sale since last November. At the time, the Glazer family announced that they would be “evaluating all options”.
There has unsurprisingly been significant interest in Man Utd, with Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim and INEOS’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe battling to become their new majority shareholder.
It was initially hoped that the takeover would be completed during the early stages of 2023 but this process has dragged on for much longer than United supporters were hoping.
There have been three official rounds of bidding, but Sheikh Jassim has submitted two extra offers in an attempt to outdo Ratcliffe’s proposal.
Conflicting reports have emerged in recent weeks regarding the Man Utd takeover, with Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe both tipped by various outlets to buy the club.
Journalist Ben Jacobs – who has consistently reported on the takeover saga this year – has explained why there is currently “no real need to” place any potential investor in a “period of exclusivity”.
“Those running the process are working around the clock now with both groups to try and get both offers in shape, which is highly atypical,” Jacobs told Football FanCast.
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“This is also why the fixation with a preferred bidder is largely unhelpful, because if we were earlier in the process, you would have a preferred bidder, and then that preferred bidder would enter into a period of exclusivity and they would undertake due diligence and any potential final negotiation and it would be significant because the Glazers would have shown their hands.
“The longer the process has gone on, the less need in many ways there is to crown anyone a preferred bidder. Instead, the Raine Group and the Glazers can simply pick a winner. Until they pick a winner, there’s no real need to place either of the groups or any minority investor in a period of exclusivity because every offer on the table is executional.
“If the Glazers don’t – until they pick a winner – provide a period of exclusivity, then they can obviously have maximum competitive tension.
“Then, if or when a winner is named, we then wait and see whether there is a short period of exclusivity to effectively go through the process of acquisition, but that would still be different to a preferred bidder in a period of exclusivity.”
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