Manchester United's sale plan has suffered a major setback, with the British media reporting that the Glasha family, owners of the Red Devils, are not satisfied with the bids of two major buyers, Sheikh Al-Thani and Ratcliffe, and are planning to shelve the sale of the club. United's shares, now listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States, closed in the early hours of Wednesday (6), plummeting by more than 18 percent, the biggest one-day drop since the club was listed 11 years ago, with market value evaporating by US$700 million (about HK$5.5 billion), leaving investors and United fans in tears.
Last month it was rumored that the Glasha family agreed to sell Manchester United to Qatari 'official' Sheikh Al-Thani for 6 billion pounds (about HK$59.1 billion), but the family changed its asking price to 10 billion pounds (about HK$98.6 billion), which is a big distance from the bidding price of Sheikh Al-Thani and Ratcliffe. It is reported that after considering the economic and financial factors, the Glasha family has decided to shelve the sale plan, and may wait until 2025 to list the property for sale again, and believe that more buyers can be attracted to bid at that time.
After the news came out, Manchester United's share price fell, down more than 21% at one point, and then narrowed to 18.22% at US$19.35 per share at the end of the market, with a market value of US$3.155 billion (about HK$24.6 billion), which is far lower than the Glasha family's own valuation of 10 billion pounds, and not even half of Sheikh Al-Thani's offer, so the netizens, Manchester United's fans, and the Red Devils' famous star, Gary Willy, have all blasted the Glasha family's demand for too much money. Willy has blasted the Glasha family for their outrageous demands.
