IT was confirmed on Christmas Eve that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s deal to buy 25 per cent of the club had gone through.
And pending a fit and proper persons test, that will soon be confirmed – with Ratcliffe soon to become the most important man at the club when it comes to sporting matters.
The deal will take an estimated 8 weeks to be fully confirmed.
But, Richard Jolly in the Independent has revealed that there is still a way that the deal could be cancelled on the Glazers side.
He revealed that there is a £51.6million clause in the sale of the club which means the Glazers could terminate the process.
Not only that, but the fee would have to be paid within three business days.
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In another clause of the contract between the various parties, Ratcliffe has first option to buy if the Glazers, whose stake will be reduced to 49 per cent of the club, are selling more of their shares within a year.
Interestingly, if the Glazers agree a full sale of the club to someone else, Ratcliffe will be forced to sell his shares at £25.84 each – the price he paid for his shares as part of his minority investment.
As part of the balancing act, the Glazers willl be unable to sack Erik ten Hag without Ratcliffe’s permission.
They would also be unable to sack sporting director John Murtough.
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Ratcliffe will receive a total of four seats on the board at the club.
Two of these on the sporting side will be delegated to Sir Dave Brailsford and former Juventus CEO Jean-Claude Blanc.
On the PLC side, the seats will go to Ineos chief financial officer John Reece and Rob Nevin, the chairman of Ineos Sport.
Sir Jim will also have the right to decide if dividends are paid to shareholders over the next three years.
Sir Jim’s stake in United is being purchased through Trawler’s LTD – a reference to Eric Cantona’s infamous speech when his prison sentence for kicking a Crystal Palace fan was overturned.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
