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In addition to offering a figure to buy the
English Premier League soccer club, Sheikh Jassim's proposal
also includes a plan for a further significant amount of
additional capital and infrastructure investment, the source
told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the matter is
confidential.
The source added that the bid is for 100% of the club and would
remove all debt.
Manchester United and Raine Group, the investment bank running
the bidding process, did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
No financial details of the final bid have been officially
revealed.
Sheikh Jassim's offer falls short of the 6 billion pounds ($7.54
billion) asking price set by current owners, the Glazer family,
The Guardian reported earlier in the day adding that the bid was
understood to be worth around 5 billion pounds.
Manchester United's American owners launched a formal sale
process late last year and have received several bids, including
from British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals
producer INEOS, and Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus.
Sky Sports News reported that Ratcliffe's bid for a majority
stake in Manchester United has also been submitted.
INEOS did not respond to a request for comment.
Any sale of Manchester United would likely exceed the biggest
sports deal so far, the $5.2 billion including debt and
investments paid for Chelsea, sources told Reuters previously.
United are the fourth richest soccer club in the world,
according to analysis by Deloitte. They are widely seen as one
of the most prized assets in all of sport.
A small portion of the club's shares is listed on the New York
Stock Exchange. The company's market value was about $3.4
billion, as of Thursday's close.
In March, Reuters reported that Sheikh Jassim had submitted a
second bid to buy the club.
($1 = 0.7954 pounds)
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing
by Subhranshu Sahu and Toby Davis)
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