Manchester United: Glazers ‘considering takeover bid from ex-AC Milan owners’

The Glazers are reportedly considering a takeover offer from the former owners of AC Milan for 60 per cent of Manchester United.

Elliott Management is seeking to become the next owners of Old Trafford, less than a year after AC Milan was sold to Redbird Capital Partners.

His 60 percent offer, reported by the Independentit comes despite the Glazers’ hopes of maintaining a majority stake in the club.

American owners are said to be looking to negotiate Elliott’s offer for as much as 40 percent.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS have been confirmed to have made offers for the Red Devils, and are now awaiting responses from the Raine Group, which is the commercial bank handling the sale.

The Glazers are reportedly considering a takeover bid from the former owners of AC Milan.

Bidders hoping to buy Man United expect to hear about the next steps this week.

Sportsmail reported earlier this week that those who have submitted offers to buy or invest in the Premier League giants should be informed of the next steps in the coming days.

Qatar’s bid was for full control of the club, while Ratcliffe hopes to gain a majority stake in Old Trafford, although his two initial bids came at a maximum of £4.5bn.

A ‘soft deadline’ for bids fell on February 17 and Raine Group has been reviewing the bids ahead of the next process. Candidates are expected to have access to United’s full financials after they are given a look after their initial expressions of interest.

Early offers are unlikely to be accepted, with a set negotiation period to follow. There is a belief that the Glazers are seeking around £6bn, a valuation that some see as unrealistic.

As with the bidding process for the sale of Chelsea, also overseen by Raine, it is possible that some of the groups involved will contact each other to form consortia.

Anti-Glazer sentiment has been commonplace at United games this season, but the volume increased during the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, with Avram Glazer in attendance.

The leading candidates to buy United are Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) and Jim Ratcliffe (R)

As United neared their first trophy in five seasons, loud chants of ‘We want Glazers gone’ could be heard from the United section, while some carried anti-Glazer banners.

Al-Thani, the son of a former prime minister and chairman of one of Qatar’s largest banks, is believed to have watched the match with his family at his home in Doha. He is known as a United fan and friends of his say he wears the club’s shirt in weekly five-a-side matches.

Meanwhile, Sportsmail understands there is some consternation among several of the bidders that they have yet to receive a response after the deadline.

That sentiment was exacerbated by reports over the weekend that offers for the club were below the Glazers’ valuation, which came after Raine told those in the process to keep quiet. .

Elliott Management previously owned AC Milan, which they sold last year to RedBird Capital Partners.

It has also been reported that hopes of concluding a deal by the end of March look unlikely.

The Guardian report claims that while the family’s desire is to sell the club, the deal that was agreed for the end of the month is now in doubt and will be delayed until after the season is over.

It’s been a tough week for the Red Devils in the stock market, too, with the price at one stage on Sunday dropping around 13 percent.

Aside from the offers to take over the club, there are investment offers that Avram and his brother Joel could theoretically use to pay the other four members of the family and rebuild Old Trafford and the club’s training ground.

How that would affect supporters remains to be seen. Following United’s support of the European Super League, later aborted, their match with Liverpool in May 2021 was abandoned when protesting fans managed to storm Old Trafford.