The president of Ineos Group, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has reached an agreement to buy a 25 percent stake in Manchester United, into which he will inject some 236 million euros, as confirmed this Sunday by the English club.
Ineos, who will assume delegated responsibility for the club’s football operations, and United have reached an agreement under which they will acquire 25 per cent of the ‘Class B’ shares held by the Glazer family and up to a further 25 of the ‘Class A’ shares, while investing nearly 236 million euros in its infrastructure.
“Manchester United announces that it has reached an agreement under which Ineos Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe will acquire 25 per cent of the Class B shares and up to 25 per cent of the Class A shares of Manchester United and will contribute An additional 300 million dollars intended to allow future investments in Old Trafford,” said the three-time European champion. The Premier League club detailed that “as part of the transaction, Ineos has accepted the board’s request that responsibility for the management of the club’s football operations be delegated to it.” “This will include all aspects of the men’s and women’s football operations and academies, along with two seats on the board of Manchester United PLC and Manchester United Football Club,” he added.
“The joint ambition is to create a world-class football operation based on the club’s many existing strengths, including the successful off-field performance it continues to enjoy. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and all parties expect that it be completed as soon as possible,” the ‘Red Devils’ stated.
For his part, Sir Jim Ratcliffe expressed his satisfaction with this agreement as someone from Manchester and a “lifelong fan of the club.” “While the club’s commercial success has always ensured the availability of funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully exploited in recent times,” he admitted. “We will bring the global knowledge, experience and talent of the entire Ineos Sport group to help drive further improvements at the club, while also providing funding to enable future investment at Old Trafford,” Ratcliffe stressed. He made it clear that they have joined United “for the long term” and that “many challenges and hard work” await them. “We will approach it with rigor, professionalism and passion. We are committed to working with everyone who is part of the club – the board, staff, players and fans – to help drive it forward,” he stressed.
“Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the top of English, European and world football,” he said. “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. As part of the strategic review we announced in November 2022, we committed to studying a number of alternatives to help improve Manchester United, focusing on the success of our men’s, women’s and academy teams,” celebrated Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer, United co-CEOs and board members. Both consider that the new shareholders “bring great commercial experience, as well as an important financial commitment to the club.” “And, through Ineos Sport, Manchester United will have access to high-performance professionals with experience in creating and managing elite teams, both inside and outside of football,” they noted. Yes, Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim were in the running to oversee a purchase of the club until last October, when the latter withdrew his bid for full control of the club and Ratcliffe focused on taking a significant minority stake.
2023-12-24 16:44:38
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