Sport

Manchester United takeover to enter third round of bidding

This is all starting to get very tiresome, isn't it?

Danny Jones - 11th April 2023

The potential sale of Manchester United looks like it’s going to be dragged out even further as reports are now suggesting that a third round of bids will be welcomed in just over a fortnight.

The Glazer ownership are yet to be satisfied with any of the existing offers following the second round of bidding on 27 March, and a third deadline has now been outlined for any potential deals, with those interested set to be given until the end of April to submit their next bids.

However, as per to the likes of The Times‘ Matt Lawton, it is thought that the third round of bidding for control of the club will be the last, concluding on 28 April and according to CBS Sport‘s Ben Jacobs, both Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani remain in the race to take over the club.

United fans can only hope there will finally be a resolution at the end of this saga, with the likes of Gary Neville already slamming the negotiations as “classless” and suggesting that those in charge are “making it up as they go along”.

Understand that the exact number of groups to progress is still being determined and fed back, but there is clarity now that another round of bidding will take place as opposed to one group being put through into a period of exclusivity.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) April 11, 2023

Taking it to a 3rd round is just classless. The market has obviously not given them the answer they want! It’s like they’ve made a pact to each other that they won’t go for less than £1bn each family member. (5 of them). If they stay in after all this it will be toxic!
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 11, 2023

As Jacobs went on to add, it will be interesting to see if the supposed third and ‘final’ round of bids will in fact turn out to be the case “even if a high volume [of other candidates] remain in the process”, adding that “multiple suitors feel like next offers must be their last” and will obviously increase their number.

Ratcliffe and the Qatari consortium both submitted what are thought to be world-record bids for a sporting franchise — estimated to be in excess of £5bn — after they were each given extensions to the supposed second deadline last month.

With that in mind, it’s not entirely unlikely that a similar delay could arise as the countdown for the third round of United takeover bids looms.

Nevertheless, the Glazers are clearly still holding out hope for bidders to reach their valuation of £6bn and the possibility that they could still simply welcome other investors while remaining as majority shareholders if the price isn’t right has already been noted.

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Featured Image — Richard Hoare (via Geograph)/pxfuel