Man Utd takeover latest: Sheikh Jassim also submits second bid after Sir Jim Ratcliffe
- Published
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Prospective owner visits Manchester United
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim has joined Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in submitting a second bid to buy Manchester United.
A representative for Sheikh Jassim said on Saturday they put in a revised bid overnight.
On Thursday, Ratcliffe put in his second bid after Wednesday's confusion and extended deadline.
It followed Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus stating he has submitted a bid to buy the Old Trafford club.
Zilliacus wants to buy half of the club with the other half bought by fans, who will be part of club decision-making.
On Saturday, Zilliacus claimed, external he had also increased his bid for United overnight.
Interested parties had until 21:00 GMT on Wednesday to enter their bids before the deadline was extended.
On Thursday, an Ineos spokesperson said: "Ratcliffe and Ineos can confirm we have submitted a revised bid."
The Glazer family, who bought Manchester United for £790m in 2005, announced they were considering selling the club in November.
The Americans have established a valuation of £5-6bn for United.
Ineos wants to buy the combined Glazer shareholding of about 69%, but the Qataris are targeting 100% of the club.
Both sides met with United officials earlier in March.
Who is Zilliacus?
Zilliacus is the founder and chairman of a new social media group
Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim were the only publicly declared bidders until Zilliacus announced his offer.
Zilliacus said:, external "Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. My bid is built on equality with fans.
"The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds, is not a healthy trend.
"The current market value of the club is just under $3.9bn (£3.17bn). That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than $6.
"My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half.
"If every fan joins it means less than $3 per fan."
Zilliacus plans to give fans a say through an app from which they can "participate and cast" their vote "when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club".
It is also understood US investment company Elliott has made an offer to purchase a minority stake, irrespective of who ends up owning the club.
Zilliacus, who has previously been involved with HJK Helsinki and ice hockey champions Jokerit in his homeland, is the founder and chairman of new social media group novaM Group.
He wants to buy United through XXI Century Capital, which is an investment firm owned by his holding company.
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