This Friday sees the third and final deadline for the potential new owners of Man United to submit any further information, with the Glazer family now askingthat any interested bidders of the club must prove their source of wealth.
According to Bloomberg, Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe will also need to disclose who the ultimate beneficial owner of the club will be.
It could be seen as another delaying tactic from the Glazer’s, but that may not be the only worry that Man United fans will have on their minds, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein has described a potential nightmare scenario that has ‘every chance’ of occurring.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents Five podcast, Ornstein noted that:
“A really important point to make in this is that when Manchester United were floated by the Glazers on the New York Stock Exchange, they inserted a clause – a mechanism – that stated the most important and powerful shares, which are called Class B shares, can only be owned by the family themselves.
“Those Class B shares have 10 times more voting rights than the other shares, which are called Class A shares. If any of the Class B shares are sold by the family to non-family members, such as Sheikh Jassim or Jim Ratcliffe, US investment vehicles, then they will convert into Class A shares – with 10 times less voting rights.
“So there’s every chance that members of the Glazer family will sell to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, or whoever, that will take that person over 50 per cent to become the majority shareholder – but not of the most powerful shares.
“That means that even if Joel and Avram Glazer stay with 20 per cent, then that 20 per cent of powerful Class B shares could make them more influential than the majority shareholder and in greater control.
“Unless that mechanism, that rule, that clause that was brought in when they floated the club on the Stock Exchange, is either revoked or changed.”