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New co-owners INEOS have grand plans for Manchester United and are already focussing on getting the structure of the club right before embarking on their first transfer window.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe became the minority stakeholder of the club, fans were divided as they always envisaged a complete sale due to years of neglect under the Glazers.
Fans wanted the American family gone, something Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani was offering but as per the club’s SEC filings, the reason for Qatar’s failure was that they failed to produce “customary financing commitment letters”.
As relayed by The Peoples Person, the Qatari prince was deeply unimpressed with the statement and demanded an “immediate corrective action” from the club. As revealed by The Athletic, nothing has changed on that front.
Sheikh Jassim displeased with Sir Jim’s statements
Recently, after his minority bid was ratified, Sir Jim sat down with the world’s press and gave multiple interviews and in one, he jokingly claimed that due to his anonymity during the whole bidding process, Sheikh Jassim was not even a real character.
“Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually. The Glazers (the family that owns Manchester United) never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!,” were the INEOS chairman’s words.
To add insult to injury, the British billionaire seemed to suggest the bid from Qatar’s Nine Two Foundation was greatly exaggerated and that they had indeed failed to produce proof of funds.
Now as per The Athletic, this has not gone down well with the Qataris who have sent legal notices to the club regarding these statements.
“The Athletic can reveal that legal representatives of Sheikh Jassim and his Nine Two Foundation (the vehicle established to bid for United) have sent legal letters to United lawyers in New York City and London to complain about “a pattern of demonstrably false and defamatory” statements made by Ratcliffe about their attempt to buy the club, which they call “Project Ruby”.
“They also demand “immediate corrective action” be made to the club’s SEC filings and accuse Ratcliffe of making comments in his interview in February that represented a breach of the confidentiality agreement signed by all parties concerning the sales process.”
Proof of funds
As for their proof of funds claim, the legal correspondence seen by the media outlet claims their fifth and final offer included was beyond $7billion.
“Qatar’s legal correspondence says that the Nine Two Foundation made its fifth formal offer for United on June 1, 2023. This represented a bid of $5.072bn to buy out the club’s shareholders and a further $731million to clear the debt, bringing together an enterprise of value of $5.8billion.
“They also say they pledged to invest a further $1.3billion into Manchester United, which they argue brought the overall transaction consideration beyond $7billion.”
This is exactly what has irked the Qatari prince who felt his offer was by far the better one as compared to Sir Jim’s. It has been argued that INEOS won the race simply because they amended their offer into a minority stake deal while Qatar were always for a full sale.
The Glazers never wanted to sell their prized asset which led to Sheikh Jassim walking out.
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