Manchester United (NYSE: MANU) made headlines again this week after the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported that a group from Qatar are planning a bid to buy the team.
These “private, high-wealth individuals” are not connected to Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a subsidiary of Qatar’s $450 billion sovereign fund, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal, who were granted anonymity because the details are private.
Several pre-emptive bids have already been submitted, but it’s expected that initial bids from well-capitalized parties will come in by the end of next week, the people close to the deal said. Those are likely to include Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Qatari group. The provisions each bidders pursues could run the gamut from complete control to just the Glazer’s stake to an LP position with a path to control, according to the people.
Experts say any Qatari bidders with the clout to make a deal for Man United, currently worth $5.95 billion according to Sportico’s latest Premier League valuations, would need close ties with the nation’s government. Qatar, which hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is among the world’s 10 wealthiest nations, thanks to its fossil-fuel resources.
“Anyone in Qatar with the level of wealth needed to acquire Manchester United would inevitably have strong links to the state,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Paris, told Sportico. “To engage in such a transaction, especially in moving significant sums of money across international boundaries, would require state approval.”
The Glazer family said they are considering selling Manchester United in November, announcing they will start exploring strategic alternatives, including a full or partial club sale. The late Malcolm Glazer bought the club 17 years ago for £790 million (about $1.5 billion at the time). The family hired the Raine group to oversee the sales process. The firm declined to comment for this story.
“Manchester United is a unique asset,” Shiv Jhangiani, the senior consultant with Sportsology overseeing strategy and M&A, told Sportico in an interview. “As a brand, it transcends the sport in terms of its lasting value, commercial appeal and international nature.”
Qatar’s impact on global soccer is getting bigger every year, and an EPL team is a logical target.
QSI bought the french soccer club Paris Saint Germaine in 2011 for €70 million ($90 million at the time) and, in a highly ambitious project, developed the club into a multi-billion-dollar global sports property in a single decade, bringing superstar players like Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. In 2022 QSI bought a 21.67% stake in Portugal’s Sporting Club Braga and most recently added an international padel tournament to its sports portfolio.
Along with QSI, Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani, a Qatari businessman, invests in European soccer. In 2010, he bought the Spanish soccer club Malaga C.F., which was relegated to the second division in 2020.
“As regulations to promote financial sustainability within the world of European soccer continue to grow in importance, the premium on an asset like Manchester United only grows,” Jhangiani said. “It is no surprise that sovereign wealth funds and a number of the largest institutional investors are circling around an opportunity like Manchester United.”
The club’s rich history and on the pitch success help the team commercialize its assets and receive sponsorship dollars from global brands to fund operations. That’s an advantage over teams such as PSG and Manchester City, who must rely deep-pocketed backers, including, more frequently, middle eastern state-backed corporations. That sort of monetary support can make teams competitive, but, as in Man City’s case, it can also bump up against financial fair play rules.
Manchester United is currently third in the Premier League. The team faces Leeds United—44% of which is owned by 49ers Enterprises, the parent company of the NFL’s San Francisco franchise—on Sunday.
(This story was updated with a new photograph and to correct a misspelling of Sir Jim Ratcliffe.)