The much-anticipated sale of Manchester United FC has reached its climax with the moment of the bidding cut-off for the deal of the century. Qatari plutocrat Sheikh Al-Thani, British billionaire Ratcliffe and US hedge fund giant Elliott have joined the bidding war. Sheik Al Thani was rumored to be leading the pack with a sky-high bid of £5 billion, but according to an exclusive from The Sun UK, the Glasha family is insisting on a reserve price of £6 billion, which has caused the deal to take a turn for the worse.
The Sun quoted a source close to the matter as saying that the Glasha family has not yet finalized whether to put United on the market, and that even if they decide to sell, they would prefer to sell part of their shares. If the whole sale, they intend to pursue the "highest return", that is, 6 billion pounds of purchase money.
Sheikh Al-Thani's previous offer was to buy Manchester United for the full £5 billion, while Ratcliffe's bid was £4 billion. With a current market capitalization of just £2.9 billion on the New York Stock Exchange, the two tycoons' bids were quite generous, however, the Glasha family still seems to feel that the price fell short of their psychological expectations.
