The sale of 25% of English football club Manchester United to British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe for €300 million has been given the green light by the independent panel that assesses deals, the Premier League said today.
After the body that governs England’s professional leagues gave its approval last week, it is another step towards finalizing the deal between Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of chemicals company Ineos, and the North American Glazer family.
An independent commission was recently set up to check whether potential buyers of English clubs comply with the rules set out in England for transactions of this type, something that has not previously happened, such as the sale of Manchester City to the United Arab Emirates and Newcastle to Saudi Arabia. .
The Glazer family, who have owned the club since 2005, opened the process for a partial or full sale last year to secure new investment, and have closed that chapter with Ratcliffe’s arrival as they seek to maintain the club’s financial success and revive it at a higher level. …a sport that has been in decline since 2013, the year coach Alex Ferguson resigned and the Red Devils won their last English title.
The agreement sees Ratcliffe in charge of the club’s sporting activities, as well as putting £300 million (€330 million) into United’s coffers to invest in both transfers and the refurbishment of Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe’s offer, accepted by the club in December, trumped that of Qatar, which offered €5 billion for control of the entire club but failed to provide guarantees for the operation.
The final step for the purchase to become fully official is to obtain approval from the English Football Association (FA).
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.