Manchester United close to bid from Qatari investors: reports

Manchester United is reportedly being sold, with Qatari investors preparing to make a bid.

Multiple reports citing sources familiar with the deal say the investor consortium will submit an initial bid for the Premier League football club by the end of the week, and that officials from the Qatar Investment Authority are helping with preparations for the bid.

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According to Forbes’ list of most valuable sports’ teams, Manchester United’s $4.5 billion valuation was good for the 19 slot, sandwiched between two National Football teams — the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins. The Dallas Cowboys, sit atop the list at $8 billion. 

Last month, Jim Ratcliffe’s company INEOS formally entered the bidding process to buy Manchester United after the club’s U.S. owners, the Glazer family, said in November they had begun looking at options including new investment or a potential sale. 

Earlier this month, the Daily Mail newspaper reported that Qatari investors are planning to make a huge bid to buy Premier League club Manchester United. 

The Daily Mail report stated the interested investors are separate from Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which owns Paris St Germain, and that the money will come from an “individual fund” rather than a sovereign wealth fund.

QSI is a state-backed body founded by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, but European soccer governing body UEFA has strict integrity rules regarding multi-club ownership.

No club participating in its competitions is allowed to “directly or indirectly hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club”.

United, managed by Erik ten Hag, are third in the league on 46 points after 23 games, two points behind Manchester City and five adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Reuters contributed to this report.