Glazers' demands set to delay Manchester United takeover: Reports

LONDON: Plans for a takeover of Manchester United could be delayed until May, with the current US-based owners the Glazer family said to be holding out for a better offer, according to British media reports.

The Daily Mail reported this week that the Glazers wanted a bid of at least £6 billion (US$7.2 billion, 6.8 billion euros) after initial offers from Qatari's Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were lodged at a maximum of £4.5 billion.

The Mail said this might mean a sale of the club, which won its first trophy in six years by collecting the League Cup on Sunday (Feb 26), would not take place until May at the earliest.

In another report, the Guardian said there was indecision among the six Glazer siblings because each had their own view of any takeover but that the sale remained "under serious consideration by the family as a whole".

Sheikh Jassim, 41, educated at Britain's elite Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, claims to be a long-time United fan.

He was the first to submit a bid by the "soft deadline" of Feb 17 and has promised a "completely debt free" takeover of United.

Boyhood United fan Ratcliffe, who was born in the Manchester area, is one of Britain's wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of £12.5 billion following the success of INEOS, his global chemical company.

He is keen to expand a sporting portfolio that already includes French football club Nice and Swiss team FC Lausanne-Sport, as well as the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky.

A price tag of around US$6 billion would smash the record fee for a football club set when a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital purchased Chelsea last year.

Russ