With only a few hours left before the 10pm UK deadline for final bids for the ownership of Manchester United Football Club, it appears one of the bidders will be putting his foot down as far as the Glazer family are concerned.
There needs to be a swift resolution to this long and drawn out process now, and if the Glazers are to finally release their stranglehold on the club, a quick answer would surely be appreciated for anyone connected with the club.
Perhaps to try and sweeten the deal from his point of view, it was reported by The Times (subscription required) that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was prepared to allow the Glazer’s to keep hold of 20 percent of the club.
That’s unlikely to be a scenario acceptable to the majority of Man United fans, particularly, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein noted on the Rio Ferdinand Presents Five podcast, that it could cause a real headache as far as shares are concerned.
Ornstein said:
“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.”
Things may not be as bad as they appear, however.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Manchester United offer is for control. That part is non-negotiable. This means he won’t entertain Joel and Avram Glazer retaining shares with Class B voting power. pic.twitter.com/BfRY7x1lCc
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) April 28, 2023
On Friday, respected journalist, Ben Jacobs, tweeted that Sir Jim ‘won’t entertain Joel and Avram Glazer retaining shares with Class B voting power.’
Whether that’s a deal-breaker for the Glazer family and would effectively rule the Ineos Chief Executive out of the running, only time will tell.