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Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS have been granted extensions to submit second bids to buy Manchester United.
Both of the top bidders had not submitted their improved offers by Wednesday’s 9pm deadline.
However, US hedge fund Elliott Management did make an offer before the deadline to buy a minority stake in the club.
Elliott Management have also offered financing to other parties interested in investing in United and that offer still stands. Both extensions were granted.
Here’s what happened on a dramatic night of extraordinary developments around the sale of Man Utd:
9pm: Deadline for second bids passes, with Elliott Management having submitted offer for minority stake.
9.10pm: Qataris claim to make new, improved, debt-free world-record bid.
9.45pm: Raine Group, the firm handling the sale of Man Utd, say they did not receive bids from Sheikh Jassim or Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS. The Qataris had previously asked for an extension, followed by INEOS. Both extensions were granted.
10.25pm: Raine Group say they have received “many proposals” to buy United before deadline but not from the Qataris or Ratcliffe.
10.45pm: Qataris say they did not submit bid because they were offered an extension which had been granted to other parties and Sheikh Jassim decided to take it up.
10.50pm: Sources involved reveal Sheikh Jassim’s bid is ready to go and he did not need extra time.
The Glazer family have still not indicated how much they want for United, with even the most senior people involved not knowing the asking price.
It is understood up to eight bids were sent in to Raine on Wednesday night but not all of them are to buy United outright.
The Qataris believe they will have the best offer for the club, the fans and the community.
Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe are the leading contenders but there is no favourite at present, with the highest first-round bids having valued the club at around £4.5bn, well short of the Glazer family’s widely-reported £6bn asking price.
The Raine Group and the Glazers will take around a week to evaluate the new bids, although there is no new deadline for Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe to make their bids.
Sheikh Jassim’s bid team called Raine on Tuesday and asked for more time. Both requests were granted without a new deadline.
Once the bids are evaluated, one bidder could be given exclusivity, although it is more likely there will be another round of bids with a smaller group of preferred bidders.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS delegation have been described as impressive and sophisticated in their approach, having visited the club for six hours last Friday.
Ratcliffe says he will not pay a “stupid” price for United but his interest in the club would be “purely in winning things”, calling the club a “community asset”.
It was previously understood the Qatari bidders were determined not to pay over the odds for the club but that stance has softened in recent days, coinciding with a delegation’s visit to Old Trafford.
A Qatari delegation travelled to Manchester from London by train and received a warm welcome. Talks were held across 10 hours, a lot longer than expected.
Sheikh Jassim and members of his team had been to Old Trafford as fans before and the focus of this visit was to get a perspective on what they could do with their capital investment regarding infrastructure, youth development and the women’s team.
Any bid of more than £3.75bn would break the world-record fee for a sports club set when the Denver Broncos were sold last summer.
The Washington Commanders are also up for sale and are expected to change hands for more than that.
Meanwhile, Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus has said he has made a bid to buy Man United.
Zilliacus has revealed that his bid is based on buying half the club, letting the fans buy the other 50 per cent.
He is the founder and chairman of social media company novaM Group and has said he submitted his bid through his holding company XXI Century Capital.
“Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans,” said Zilliacus.
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