(Football news) Manchester United have received a second revised offer by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani for a potential takeover after the Qatari royal asked for an extension to Wednesday’s deadline. The Raine Group had not given a deadline for the second offers to be made and the new offer is reportedly a world record fee for a sporting team, expected to be about £5bn. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS also submitted a revised bid on Thursday while Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has also confirmed that his holding company XXI Century Capital has submitted an increased offer.
US hedge fund Elliott Management has also made an offer for a minority stake on Wednesday and have offered financing options for any interested parties for a potential takeover. In one of the most talked about bids on social media, Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has offered to buy half of Manchester United with the other half being bought by fans who will have a say in the club’s decision making. Zilliacus is the founder and chairman of social media company novaM Group and has asked Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe to join forces and buy the club together.
A statement released by Thomas Zilliacus read “I have appealed to my two main rivals, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, to join forces with me so that we buy the club together and that way channel more money to the club for everything from player acquisition to stadium upgrades. I however have not received any reply, so XXI Century Capital has increased its bid. We believe our offer, which includes fans involvement in never before seen ways as well as values that the future of the club will be built on, is the best for the club and its fans.
“We continue to receive strong support from the fans, who say they want to see our bid win. I continue to hope that we could work together with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheik Jassim to improve the club, but as we have received no replies XXI Century Capital sees no other option than to increase its own bid. We are dead serious in our wish to buy the club. We will make it the world’s best club and we will significantly grow the already massive fan base around the world by offering fans everywhere unprecedented ways to be involved and to communicate with the club and the players.”
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