February 26 News The famous reporter Ben Jacobs updated his social media dynamics and reported news about the acquisition of Manchester United.
The reporter said that the initial quotations of the various consortiums are mainly for the purpose of obtaining further contacts and gaining an in-depth understanding of Manchester United.
In addition, he will say that the Qatar consortium’s offer of 5 billion pounds is fake news.
He also said that the Glazer family may refuse to sell Manchester United if they do not get the expected offer.
Manchester United suitors are awaiting formal feedback on their indicative offer as Raine’s group prepares their next move.
Sources familiar with the process said fewer offers were received than expected.
Sheikh Jassim and Sir Ratcliffe made public offers, and several strategic financing partners, including Elliott Investment Management, also came forward.
New suitors would still be welcome, but know that the Glazers didn’t receive the expected five major offers before the soft deadline.
This is a complex process as different types of offers have been received.
A few bids still need to value the club as a whole and can therefore be used as leverage to try to get an immediate suitor to bid more.
Sources with knowledge of Sheikh Jassim’s bid stressed they would not overpay.
Their initial offer is to move on to the next stage, starting a full investigation, at which point the price can go up or down.
But Qatar still wants a return on investment and will stick to its valuation.
The source added that there had been “small movements” in the price and that Qatar would not be “fooled” by the “mystery bidder” narrative.
Like Ratcliffe (and financial insiders), Qatar believes that twice the price of Chelsea, £4.6bn, is a steep price.
No consortium has yet offered such a high bid (in fact, Qatar’s bid of £5 billion is fake), but the bids are roughly in this range.
Qatar believes their bid is high, but they remain concerned that the Glazers may not want to sell outright.
Ratcliffe also made this public to the Financial Times last year, before the process began.
Additionally, the Glazer family is a multi-person group, which is why browsing offers may take more time than expected.
Now is a critical stage in the process.
Glazer wants prices to rise.
The Raine Group is still trying to generate more interest and competition from participants.
Until Qatar and Ratcliffe pass and do proper due diligence, they can’t do anything.
If the Glazers were genuinely not interested in the number and value of the offer, they might have turned down the offer.
It would be a statement that reports said an outright sale was off.
On the other hand, letting the consortium pass would send the opposite message that the consortium’s indicative offer is the starting point for a more serious conversation, which would only make the likes of Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim stick to their strategy,
rather than getting involved in a bidding war.
Chelsea’s sale was very different, timed and cheaper, it was just for outright ownership, and there were more suitors, giving Raine room to put forward strong options and compete with each other.
(Barry)