A was published on December 24, 2023 Fifteen months on from the Glazer family launching what they called a “strategic review” of , a deal for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company
is buying 25 per cent of Manchester United in exchange for sporting control. The deal, which is costing around £1.3billion, means the club’s football operation will now be overseen by hoped to minimise the risk of legal action from its fellow minority stakeholders. So this isn’t the end of the Glazer era, then? No, it certainly isn’t. The Glazers owned roughly 69 per cent of the club, with about the vast majority of them by institutional investors. Ratcliffe’s bid was initially directed solely at the shareholding owned by the American family but, in the third round of bids, he proposed a deal that would see him gain a majority of slightly more than 50 per cent.
— whose secret name for the bid was ‘Project Trawler’, named after legendary then United player — announced its bid for United in February 2023, its headline was an attempt to “put the Manchester back into Manchester United”. “We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community,” the company said.
bid, speaking on condition of anonymity when relaying private conversations, have told The Athletic that Ratcliffe sees the improvement of infrastructure at Old Trafford and the club’s Carrington training ground as essential. His proposal also included a statement of intent to invest in the women’s team. Before the deal was announced, it emerged .
for a 50 per cent stake in the current Spanish champions and a promise to never sell up. He also told UK newspaper The Times in 2019 that he bought Nice rather than a Premier League club because “ Britannia sailing team, helmed by English multi-Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie; and the is the fourth-largest chemical company in the world, and produces chemical and oil products used across industry and everyday life. If you have used a product containing plastic, textiles, medicines or hygienics in recent years, chances are you have used something
eventually bought Innovene, BP’s refining and petrochemical arm, in 2006, and in its first 10 years, completed more than 20 acquisitions. The strategy was relatively simple: take on debt to buy the asset, reduce the outgoings via cost savings and build it back up. When the global financial crash happened in 2008,