British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe wants to buy a stake in Manchester United

Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of the chemical company Ineos, expressed his willingness to buy a stake in Manchester United, the sale of which thought family of the late American businessman Malcolm Glaser, who acquired the club in 2005. According to The Times, citing a representative of the businessman, Mr. Ratcliffe would like to get full control over the new asset.

“We would be interested in negotiations with a view to long-term ownership,” a spokesman for Mr. Ratcliffe told the newspaper. The new investment in the club could be used to upgrade infrastructure, including renovations to Old Trafford, he said. According to The Times, the businessman is a “big fan” of the club.

As Bloomberg previously reported, the Glazer family is considering selling a minority stake in the club due to increased pressure from fans. Fans are outraged by the lack of investment in Manchester United’s infrastructure, including the training ground in Carrington and the famous Old Trafford stadium. According to agency sources, well-known investors are likely to want to buy the shares, such as EPL Chelsea FC, which was recently sold to US billionaire Todd Boli and private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

Jim Ratcliffe was among those who tried to buy Chelsea in the spring, which Roman Abramovich put up for sale before he was on the UK government’s sanctions list. As a result, Mr. Ratcliffe, as well as the consortiums represented by the co-owner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Boston Celtics and the Italian Serie A team Atalanta Steven Palyuka and the former head of British Airways Martin Broughton, failed – the club went to the American investor Todd Beuly .

Read more about how the British club was sold – in the material “Kommersant” “Roman Abramovich is giving Chelsea into American hands”.

Victoria Kolganova