(Football news) Thomas Zilliacus, a 69 year old Finnish entrepreneur has withdrawn his offer to buy Manchester United, describing the third round of bidding as a “farce” and said that the Glazers were giving “no respect” to the club. There were three known bidders who were vying for complete control of the club, namely, Sheikh Jassim, INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Thomas Zilliacus. The Finnish entrepreneur wanted to buy the club through XXI Century Capital, an investment firm owned by his holding company.

Describing the third round of bids, Zilliacus said “The delays will make it very difficult for any new owner to build a winning team for next season. The bidding is turning into a farce, with Glazers giving no respect to the club. Jim Ratcliffe, Sheik Jassim and myself all were ready to negotiate a deal to buy United. Instead Glazers chose to start a new round. I will not participate in a farce set up to maximize the profit for the sellers at the expense of Manchester United.”

Zilliacus has been previously involved with HJK Helsinki and ice hockey champions Jokerit and is the founder and chairman of novaM Group. He had announced his intention to bid for Manchester United last month, saying that he planned to buy half of the club with the other half bought by fans, who would be a part of the decision making. The Glazer family purchased Manchester United for £790m in 2005 and are now expecting about £6bn for a full takeover.

The third round of bidding is meant for potential purchasers to give higher offers in hopes to conclude a deal. This means that it’s unlikely that any deal will be concluded by the end of the ongoing season and could jeopardize Manchester United’s hopes of preparing for the next season. Sheikh Jassim is expected to submit a new bid for 100% takeover of the club while Ratcliffe is attempting to buy the Glazer family’s 69% shareholding. 

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