Manchester United bidders wait amid fear Glazers may cite banking crisis to stay

The bidders for Manchester United hope to receive a response to their latest offers this week amid fears from at least one potential buyer that the Glazers will ultimately cite the banking crisis as a reason for not selling.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest person, and the Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani have said they want to buy out the Glazers, while Elliott, a US hedge fund, is targeting a minority stake. There have been reports of multiple other interested parties but there is scepticism this is the case.

All bidders lodged offers by 24 March and are awaiting a response from Raine Group, which is negotiating for the Glazers, but there remains uncertainty regarding the American family’s intentions. This has caused discussions at at least one of the prospective buyers that the six siblings could choose not to sell and claim the banking crisis prevented them from reaching their desired price.

With the cost of borrowing rising, any offer involving debt is becoming more expensive and if this makes Ratcliffe more conservative, the Glazers may not get the bidding war they hoped for and could argue their demands were not met.

In a sign of turbulence, last month Silicon Valley Bank became the largest US bank to collapse since 2008 and Credit Suisse was taken over for a price well below its market value.

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No immediate end to the United sale process is expected. Raine’s next response to the offers could range from cutting the process to a sole bidder, limiting it to two or extending the timeframe.