Manchester United confirms that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has invested a small amount of money.
Manchester United has said that they have agreed to let British millionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe buy a small part of the club.
Each Class B share costs $33 (£26), so the 71-year-old purchased an equal number of Class A shares. All together, the deal is worth $1.3 billion.
Ratcliffe, chairman and founder of petrochemical giant INEOS, has decided to buy a 25% stake in United via the Glazer family. The Glazer family is selling their shares in the club in the Premier League instead of leaving.
Manchester United has revealed that they have agreed to sell Sir Jim Ratcliffe a small stake in the club. The chairman of INEOS has also promised to invest another $300 million to the team.
In a move worth about £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion), Ratcliffe bought a 25% stake in the club. He will also be in charge of the football team at United.
His new $300 million promise was made public on Sunday and was said to “enable future investment into Old Trafford.”
“Our shared desire is clear: we all want to see Manchester United returning where it should belong, at the very top in English, European, and world football.”
“As a local boy and a lifelong admirer of the club, I am very pleased that my wife and I have been ready to agree to a deal negotiated by the Manchester United athletics board that passed us management responsibility over the football operations of the club,” Ratcliffe stated in the statement.
As long as the club has been successful in the business world, there have always been enough funds to win trophies at the top level. However, this potential has not been fully realized in recent years.
“The global knowledge, expertise, or talent of the INEOS Sport group will be brought to the club to help it get even better. We will also provide funds that will allow future investments to be made in Old Trafford.”
“We plan to stay here for a long time and know that there will be a lot of challenges and hard work ahead.
We will face them with discipline, professionalism, and passion.” We want to help move the club forward by working with the board, staff, players, and fans.
ESPN heard from a source that Sir Dave Brailsford along with Jean-Claude Blanc will each get two seats on the football board.
The club is getting a lot of money from Sir Jim and INEOS, who have a lot of business knowledge.
Ratcliffe doesn’t have to buy all of United’s shares, but if the Glazers decide to sell more, he would be the first person to try to buy them.
In a statement, Avram and Joel Glazer, who are chairmen and directors, said, “We are delighted to have agreed to this deal with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS.”
“As part of the strategic review we as a species announced in November 2022, we promised to look at a number of options to help improve Manchester United, with a focus on making our men’s, women’s, or academy teams successful.”
And through INEOS Sport, Manchester United will have the opportunity to able to get in touch with seasoned high-performance professionals from both inside and outside the game who know how to build and lead top teams.
All over Manchester United, there are brilliant people. We want to keep getting better at every level so that we can bring our fans even more success in the future.
While Ratcliffe and Qatari investor Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani were both interested in a full takeover that Old Trafford, the Glazers chose to take up Ratcliffe’s bid to buy a minority stake.
The Glazers will stay at the club to be majority shareholders because of the terms of the deal.
He was born in Failsworth, Manchester, as well as grew up a Manchester United fan. He already owns the French team Nice and the Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport. In 2022, he tried late but failed to buy Chelsea.
Before it was confirmed that Ratcliffe was working for United, CEO Richard Arnold said he was stepping down.
Arnold will be giving “transitional support” until the end of December, and Patrick Stewart will be acting as CEO in the meantime.