AN AMERICAN hedge fund will stump up £5billion for a last-gasp bid to hijack the Manchester United takeover.
The Glazer family initially set a soft deadline of yesterday for interested parties to submit their offers and prove their source of funds.
But The Times report the billionaire hedge fund company Elliott are prepared to make their own incredible late effort.
Elliot are the former owners of AC Milan – selling the Serie A champions for £1bn last August – and worth a reported £46bn.
The investors are run by Paul Singer but have ruled out ambitions of a full takeover from the Glazers.
Instead, they are hopeful of adding funds to another bid, which could provide a boost for a wannabe new owner without the financial power to win the battle.
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That could see Elliott taking a stake in United, providing debt funding or a combination of both, the report adds.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, chairman of Qatar’s biggest bank, confirmed his bid on Friday.
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, born in Manchester, submitted an offer of his own – although it is said to be worth £1bn less than the Qatari’s.
His INEOS company said: “We can confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have submitted a bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Football Club.
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“We would see our role as long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community.
“We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again.
“We also recognise that football governance in this country is at a crossroads.
“We would want to help in this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership.
“We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the North-West of England, putting the Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focusing on winning the Champions League.”
Ratcliffe has emerged as a popular choice to take over among fans.
Although a SunSport poll yesterday revealed that Sheikh Jassim’s £5bn bid is not far behind in popularity.
The Raine Group, the bank overseeing the sale, will determine the next step, following last night’s soft deadline.
This will involve putting together a shortlist of bidders, much like the one that was compiled during the process that saw Todd Boehly buy Chelsea last year.
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The Glazer family stand to make around 40 TIMES what they paid for United.
Having purchased the club in a leveraged buy-out, the Glazers spent only around £150million on United, while receiving dividends over many years.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
