Manchester United Takeover: Man United takeover saga has been prolonged so much, that doubts have emerged that whether the Glazer brothers even had the intention of selling the club. In the midst of it, there has been news of government officials showing concerns over the Qatari bidder, Sheikh Jassim led Qatari Investment Bank’s violation of some capital financial rules. If this becomes a problem, then that could turn fans’ doubts true into reality and Glazers could cease the Manchester United sale process. Follow Premier League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Man United’s Qatari bidder Sheikh Jassim heads the Qatari Investment Bank’s (QIB) UK branch. The Bank of England has previously flagged up a few regulatory failings by the QIB. Apparently, QIB violated capital financial rules which left the bank’s door wide open to high levels of risk. For this, the QIB was even handed a £1.4 million fine.
QIB regulators commented on the matter saying that they “failed to meet some of the most basic regulatory standards.” They have also said that they have since taken appropriate “remedial actions” so that the incidents don’t occur again. Even though Sheikh Jassim heads QIB, he is not using their funds. He is bidding via the Nine Two Foundation as an individual bidder.
QIB took care of the matter as soon as it had come up by restructuring its governance and operations. It still hasn’t become an issue as government officials were actually supportive of Sheikh Jassim’s bid in the beginning. However, it could turn into a bigger deal as the final bid winner is required to pass the new modified ‘Owners and Directors Test’ held by the Premier League.
🧵 NEW: UK government officials have privately flagged concerns about Manchester United bidder Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to people familiar with the matter
Here’s what we know ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/STcvQcb4ys
— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) April 4, 2023
The media tried to reach representatives of both government officials and Sheikh Jassim, but they refused to comment on the matter. However, this brings up new questions and makes the whole sale process much more confusing. Especially knowing the fact that Sheikh Jassim is the front-runner and is the only one capable of matching the Glazers’ Man United valuation of £6 billion.
The doubts about the intentions surrounding the sale stem from the rumours that Joel and Avram Glazer want to buy off the rest of their brothers. Then they would separate the club’s merchandising and commercial divisions to keep a large portion of the profit to themselves. The rumours were fuelled when Elliott Management who are willing to buy smaller stakes into the club, were being given a lot of importance.
In the second stage of the bidding process, both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim have submitted their revised bid near the record £5 billion mark. The Raine Group, who are handling the bidding process, have told the bidders that they will get an update on their bids in the following two weeks. However, they haven’t provided a solid deadline.
This is proving frustrating for both bidders and fans who are more than happy to see the Glazers get out of their club. Bidders have already expressed their wish to rush and end the bidding process. Whereas, it’s also important to do so for the owner to plan properly for the coming transfer window. However, if Glazers have no intention of selling, that could explain the delay. It could also indicate that QIB’s government issues could see the entire sale shelved.
