Sir Jim Ratcliffe agrees deal to buy 25 per cent stake of Manchester United
- Planet Sport writer
- 24 December 2023
Manchester United have announced that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has agreed a deal to buy 25 percent of the club.
The investment in the club will be a premature Christmas present for Man United fans, as they have been longing for extra investment in their club for several years.
Confirmation of Ratcliffe and Ineos Group's aquisition brings an end to a takeover saga that has been ongoing for more than a year.
The deal comes 13 months after the club's United States-based owners, the Glazer family, revealed their intention to undertake a strategic review of their options, including the possibility of selling up.
Ineos, who will assume delegated responsibility for the club's football operations, and United have entered an agreement under which he will acquire 25 per cent of the Class B shares held by the Glazer family and up to 25 per cent of the Class A shares while investing 300 million US dollars (£236.7million) into its infrastructure.
A club statement said: "Manchester United announces that it has entered into an agreement under which chairman of Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will acquire 25 per cent of Manchester United's Class B shares and up to 25 per cent of Manchester United's Class A shares and provide an additional 300 million intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford.
"As part of the transaction, Ineos has accepted a request by the board to be delegated responsibility for the management of the club's football operations. This will include all aspects of the men's and women's football operations and academies, alongside two seats on the Manchester United PLC board and the Manchester United Football Club boards."
Former United defender Gary Neville was less than impressed by the timing of the announcement.
"Manchester United 2023 has been a disgrace to the end," he wrote on X.
"The timing of this is truly awful and no functioning organisation would even think about it.
"Anyway all the very best to Jim Ratcliffe and I hope he can somehow work out a way to get the club right again and back to being something respectable on and off the pitch."
