07 Jun 2023 13:42:10
The Shiek has submitted one last bid for the club with a deadline for Friday. That's when they will potentially walk away.

On the flip side of that, reports that Sir Jim amd Ineos are at the finish line already having been dealing with Raine and the banks to finalise the deal. This last attempt from Qatar is to save a bit face and show the world they walked away as opposed to being outbid by Sir Jim.

It looks like the end is nigh.

1.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 13:55:34
Should just offer the £6bn they wanted and plaster whatever tbh, extra half bil here and there to the Qataris is prob not that much so hopefully this bid is what the glazers want. Tell ya know tho if sir Jim details come out and it’s not what we want there will be Jim out protests before he can sit down.

2.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 14:20:36
There's the kicker WRD. If Qatar are planning with all this investment in the infrastructure and playing staff to the tune of billions, why would you penny pinch on your initial investment?

These guys don't lose out of things they want. Maybe they weren't as committed as we thought?

Good point about Ratcliffe. The devil is in the details and we're in the dark about what he proposes to do. Keeping the Galzers on in some capacity won't go down well but it may be the only play that sees them selling.

He's obviously a smart man, he should know what the debt represents so that should be looked at immediately, but the banks he's looking for assistance from are the same ones we have the loan with. Maybe he'll service the interest payments a bit longer?

If he is to be our new owner then I think he'll get his chance to unveil his masterplan. If its the Glazer model 2.0, I think you could be on the nose with your assumption about protests.

3.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 14:46:34
1 year ago if Ratcliffe had offered this deal what would you all have thought?

4.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 14:47:34
Mumbles they’re including all that chat as PR for their bid.

Ratcliffe hasn’t disclosed anything about investment or pledges because they don’t have too. It’s not part of the bidding process.

I personally think this offer is the Qatari way of saving face because Ineos and SJR are likely to win the race.

5.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 14:59:00
Ports, if this was a year ago I'd think we'd be all dancing like Fred Astair.

I agree Caolan, I think it might be done and dusted in favour of Jimbo.

6.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 15:02:26
So at the end of it all we are exactly where we started. Glazers stay and just add one more to the family. If the rat had the money, he would have put the money like the Qataris and fought fair. That wouldn't have left the Glazers with any choice but to sell to the highest bidder. Jim Glazer just gave Malcom and Avram a lifeline to stay on. He doest have my support, not that it matters. Manchester United will continue to service the debts and continue the way we are. Before we know it, we are Nice.

Eds please let my posts come on. A few have been blocked in the past few weeks when there haven't been much crap in them.

7.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 16:00:37
Latest Qatar bid is still short of Ratcliffe's bid apparently and way short of Glazers £6b valuation.

A child of 4 could tell you the Glazers want £6b. Whether the club is worth that or not is irrelevant. If Qatar want us - pay the £6b. If not we are left with the Rat and the Glazers. And saying you will build a new stadium etc is pointless. In fact its antagonising for Glazers (as much as I hate them) as its like saying 'Ive got £7-8b overall to invest but yeah I am only giving you £5.2b not the £6b you asked for'.

For anyone supporting Chelsea season ticket holder Ratcliffe's bid all I can say to you is I hope you enjoy the European Super League games lol.

Qatar will regroup and just buy someone else - most likely London or West Ham as London clubs at less than half the price and no stadium etc to build.

So United will be another club behind too lol.

Say hello to Ratcliffe = say goodbye to anything good for the next decade+.

8.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 16:48:25
How does anyone know how much the new bid is for? It was sent directly from the bidder to the Glazers. It may be short of the valuation, but it may still be a lot closer.

The Qatari’s have been mentioned as possible buyers of United for a number of years, and now they have the chance to make it happen. They don’t need to own the club, they aren’t short of money, but they want to so that they can say that they own the ‘biggest’ club in the world.

If unsuccessful they may go and buyer a club that is seen to be smaller than United, that they can then put a lot of money into, but it doesn’t seem to be what they want to do.

£5 billion, £6 billion…. Means little to the people with the wealth that they have. Personally I think that they would pay whatever it takes to own United but they don’t want to look stupid either. Maybe this bid is nearer to the £6 billion and will be near enough to get the Glazers to sell, maybe it won’t. It is all guess work as to what the Glazers want as they have basically said f all the whole time.

I hope it is successful and they go away, but who knows. If they have any sense taking an offer of somewhere between £5.5 billion and £6 billion should be seen by them as an unbelievable bit of business and they should sail off into the sunset. They are unlikely to make that much more going the SJR route apart from dragging it out for a few more years, doesn’t make sense to me but I’m not them and we don’t actually know what they want.

9.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 18:01:04
It's hard to be patient. But you will know the fate of the club when the deal - if there is one - is announced and not before. Any paper talk is just that, paper talk. Because the company is public I think we will get to find out the exact price per share too.

10.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 20:27:53
Brendan the reports from the Middle East (or at least the only one I’ve seen) stated a bid of just shy of £6 billion, but a billion is pledged investment. Take away the debt (included in offer I think) and they’re giving the glazers £4billion.

SJR as it stands seems to have the better offer on the table. I think the Qatari deadline of Friday is their way of pulling out and saving face because they can say they made an amazing offer that wasn’t accepted.

11.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 20:52:36
These are just reports though, no one knows for sure.

It looks more likely that SJR will win, unless the glazers decide to stay on, but until it is all confirmed then no one knows.

So bored of it all now though.

12.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 21:06:22
If they don't accept this bid from jassim they don't care about the club, someone has offered them massive money and will take the club to the next level.

13.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 21:16:02
Danny they don’t care about the club. How it’s been run proves that.

Brendan, I agree we don’t know for sure amounts etc. we do know that if the valuations were met by the Qatari’s that bid would’ve been accepted. this needs to be done and concluded soon.

14.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 21:39:09
Pointless discussion as no one knows what in these bids. The you tuber goldridge or goldbridge sprouts all kind of stuff without knowing a thing.

Very reputable journalist, who I would think have a better network have been wrong all along on this deal with what they have reported. let's wait and see. any bidder who takes control out of the glazers hands is a plus for the club imo even if takes two or 3 more years to get them completely out.

whoever is the majority shareholder appoints the board pretty much and controls things even if glazers have a seat on it they will have little say.

15.) 07 Jun 2023
07 Jun 2023 23:20:18
There's no reason for anyone to save face here. It will be really sad the new owners are basically the old owners and more of the same. Jim's desperation to win the club that he's making a deal with the glazers! That said, I do believe it's difficult for the glazers to say no to an all cash deal.

16.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 07:02:44
Continuity Glazer offer from the Rat, is unacceptable, protests will continue with any Glazer involvement at all. The club will remain toxic to its fans. That simple. How long before fans boycott sponsors that pander to the Glazer infested club? A divisive situation. It must be Qatar now.

17.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 08:09:18
Redman

What have the protest up to date achieved? Nada. Attendance is what it is every year, Sponsors are coming in an out and business as usual.

Football clubs with exception of few outside the UK are all pretty much businesses owned by private equity or Uber wealthy people. Your view of a binary world is not realistic and as owners they will decide what's best for them.

As a lifetime united supporter, the Glazers being cut off from decision making is the most relevant outcome if this takeover happens and will benefit the club. I suspect that's what is being negotiated and taking time.

18.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 09:51:50
I’m hearing that the Qatar contingent should just pay the 6 billion asking price…. why should they pay that and get ripped off? Doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, doesn’t mean it gives someone the licence to rip you off, because quite clearly the club isn’t worth that. It’s another case where the Glazers don’t give a flying s**t about the football club, if they did they’d accept the Qatar offer and clear the clubs debts. Am I happy with the club in Qatar ownership…. no. But I want us to push on and become the biggest club in the world once more, and unfortunately that requires enormous investment. I love the concept of SJR owning the club. But 1……he hasn’t got the financial clout it seems, and 2……. it involves the Glazers remaining involved with the club. I don’t want those leeches anywhere near us.

19.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 09:56:54
Ahmad certainly you have little to no understanding of how a large business works. Glazers holding 20% of the shares by no means undermines their indulgence in the club. They will still take out the dividends, present in the board etc. I don't say that i have knowledge of the type of shares they would hold but they would be priority and usually such shareholders hold veto powers too.

As for decision making, ask a Nice fan how good the decision making has been there.

20.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 10:10:46
Tbf fireman it’s worth whatever the Glazers decease it’s worth and it’s up to the bidders to entice the glazers to sell. Hence why SJR bid values the club at the £6bn they want. If Qatar have unlimited wealth and don’t want to be seen as losing and always get what they want they would bid want the glazers want, especially after 4 other bids clearly wasn’t enough.

21.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 10:37:12
WRD…. who’s to say they won’t eventually get to the 6. Everyone knows in business you don’t automatically dive in and pay the asking price straight away.

22.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 13:02:35
United Addict

I recommend you go look at financial statements. The dividends are a rounding error and nothing burger that people that bring up to vent when in comparison to our operating cost, wages, transfers cost/ player selection, debt service cost, selection of managers etc etc etc lack of a plan and how they operate things.

Frankly people are quite Naive to take issue with owners taking a dividend out of a business they own.

We have spent pretty much the same amount as city have on players with a higher wage bill and not much to show for it.

No one can argue we were miles ahead of them 15 years ago the difference is they have put a great structure in place in terms of running that club and whether they broke FFP rules along the way, I will let the lawyers/ hearings be the judge of that.

Not relevant to get into what I do for a living and don't have anything to prove. Only thing I say is my employer is 30 times the size of SJR and we fish in a bigger pond and personally have a very good understanding of numbers and how boards operate. I sit on a few and made my first board at 37.

I am not going to cry foul if SJR takes over and will wait and see what changes.

I don't support the club to constantly look at all the negatives and don't obsess over it. I prefer to look at things in terms is this a step forward or backwards. glazers with 20% or whatever it maybe will not control the board or have veto power and its the first step of getting them out.

No sophisticated investor will put any capital into anything if a minority investor has equal or overriding votes.

Generally there are some protections for minority shareholders in terms of drags, fav exits if you want to get them completely out and on the flip side there can also be some protections for the incoming investor too in terms min yield/ return and claw back provisions that allows further dilution of the existing shareholders if the min return thresholds are not met.

In summary so many details in these things to negotiate and why 90% of the stuff being said is just speculation and click bait.

23.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 14:12:41
Redman, can you explain how it's continuity glazers if Ratcliffe buys the club?

I was of the understand that the shares held by glazers would be downgraded and they would have no say going forward. And over time Ratcliffe would buy them out a premium.

24.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 20:20:31
Angel

Whilst the Glazers hold one share, take dividends, expect to make more money from club activity it is unacceptable. We must not let this toxicity continue, it must end with the leeches walking away.

You don’t seriously think they are staying for any reason other than to make more money from the club? Makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.

25.) 08 Jun 2023
08 Jun 2023 22:46:36
I think we may all have to accept that it is likely either SJR or the Glazers staying. Just doesn’t feel like the Qataris will win this one. I suppose it depends if they are willing to meet the £6 billion price, but even if they did I wouldn’t put it past the glazers to either up the price again or choose SJR so that they can hang around.

I want the Glazers gone, so if that means SJR buying the club and them hanging around for a few more years before definitely leaving then it’s better than them staying longer. I would rather them go now, whether that was an SJR 100% buyout or the Qatari’s, but it’s looking unlikely unfortunately.

The Qatari offer has 24 hours apparently, but I don’t see anything changing tomorrow. Can’t imagine the glazers wanting to dance to their tune and can see them being stubborn and keeping it going longer.

26.) 09 Jun 2023
09 Jun 2023 13:02:47
Morning guys- having finally read all the content of this post, reluctantly so as its not my area of expertise, (I haven't got one ) it seemingly obvious that the glazers hold all the trump cards and will/ can play only to thier own advantage.
If SJR gets the nod, its mooted that they retain a smaller stake so they will still be an influence on the way the club runs, transfers, revenue, ads shares and dividends. We are no further forward as the debt will still be there in one way or another and there is no guarantee or implied comment thus far that the stadium, training facilities will improve.
The only guarantee is that they will receive billions for doing very little.
If the quatari bid is successful as seems the candidates of choice the future looks initially brighter but again that is not confirmed and guaranteed. The glazers will no doubt again benefit financially form this sale but have no further ego stroking from being shareholders.
The last scenario is that they have strung us along all the while by choosing phrasing carefully and hoovering up dividends and owning our club with no initial outlay.
so 1st option, negative and no immedite improvement, 2nd unknown, unlikely and potential rapid improvement and 3rd slowly degrading the man utd club, ethos and progression as they have done throughout their tenure.
This will not end well if 1 0r 3 come to fruition but there is nothing that we as fans can do.

27.) 09 Jun 2023
09 Jun 2023 23:23:55
The issue is, the shares the glazers will retain are of huge value in having a say in the running of the club.

28.) 10 Jun 2023
10 Jun 2023 10:11:09
Ahmad

Your comments about the dividends being a “rounding error” are frankly sounding like a paid Glazer puppet argument. City owners don’t take any dividends, the Glazers do and every pound takes it away from the club. Manchester was a true working class City, with the club somewhere they could go to. Look back at what Busby said about the people coming to watch, how important they were. That was me and my family, my friends and colleagues. Now the Glazers look at it as an income stream, what they have forced on the club in interest, fees and the dividends is well over £1Bn, utterly disgusting. How many ordinary peoples ticket and season ticket money went to pay those dividends, people, working people’s hard earned money. It is money that disappears to the US, all legally but it isn’t reinvested in the club. Don’t try to dismiss it, it just sounds like a Glazer apologist.

The Glazers introduced the automatic cup scheme to make season ticket holders buy cup tickets whether they could go to the game or not. This was despicable because you had no choice. Yet it keeps the income stream to pay those dividends you call a rounding error. Those tickets at £50 each are not a rounding error to ordinary people.

You asked what protests have done, well one game was called off wasn’t it? Whilst I don’t condone that, I suspect continued Glazer involvement will see protests continue, even increase and they will go at Ratcliffe for doing it and wouldn’t surprise me to see it move on to sponsors. I have never had any involvement at all with protests but if the Rat wins and Glazers remain I may think about joining.

Continuity Glazer leaves the club in a toxic place, I would be appalled at that.