Man Utd takeover: Two bidders ‘ignore’ demands as Raine Group are ‘surprised’ by ‘financial leaks’

The two bidders for Man Utd – Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani – have reportedly ‘ignored requests by takeover brokers Raine Group’.

Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim are the known bidders for Man Utd, who were put up for sale by the Glazer family last November.

The current owners have set their asking price at around £6bn. It was hoped that a takeover could be completed early on in 2023 but

Football Insider are now reporting that Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim have ‘ignored demands’ from the Raine Group who wanted to ‘keep certain details of the process closely contained’.

The report adds that the initial offers placed by the two parties were both ‘between £4.5bn and £5bn’.

Raine Group were keen for ‘specific financial details to remain under wraps’, which included ‘the proposed structure and value of offers’. But this ‘directive has been flouted’ on ‘several instances’.

It is stated that the Raine Group ‘would never have realistically expected a deal of this potential magnitude to go through without leaks’ but they have been ‘surprised’ by the ‘volume of information’ that has emerged publicly.

Earlier this week, Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol revealed that Ratcliffe and Shaikh Jassim have been informed that they have ‘made it through to the next stage of the process to buy Manchester United’.

“It is very significant (news) as it suggests the Glazer family really are serious about Man Utd,” Solhekol told Sky Sports.

“Our information is the bid led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani from Qatar is through to the next stage with the bid from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and we have been told there may be one other unnamed bidder through to the next stage.”

“The next stage, what does it involve? It is a bit like if you want to buy a car, you have seen the advert online, you have rung up and had a chat about it, you’ve found out what the price is and now you get to go on a test drive, which is what is going to be happening in the next couple of weeks.

“The interested bidders are going to go to Old Trafford and meet people from the Raine Group, they may meet members of the Glazer family and they will be given access to detailed financial information about Man Utd. That is what they need to see, they need to see the accounts and the books.

“Once they have done that, then they can make a firm offer for the club. So if you are one of these Man Utd supporters who want to see the back of the Glazers, and there are a lot of them, you will be thinking this morning that this is good news that the process is going ahead.”