Ratcliffe completes £1.3bn deal for 27.7% stake in Manchester United
Boyhood Manchester United fan, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has completed his acquisition of 27.7% of the club’s shares, in a deal valued at around £1.3bn.
The club announced last night that Sir Jim’s takeover vehicle, the Isle of Man-based Trawlers Limited, had completed the acquisition of 25% of the club’s Class B shares and 25% of the club’s Class A shares.
The deal has been approved by both the Football Association and the Premier League.
The offer by Trawlers for up to 25% of the Class A shares, at a price of $33.00 per share, expired one minute after 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 16, 2024.
Following expiration, Trawlers accepted for payment 13,237,834 Class A shares validly tendered.
Following the closing of the offer and the acquisition of the Class B shares, Sir Jim has invested $200m into the club for additional Class A and Class B shares via a primary issuance, resulting in ownership of approximately 27.7% of the club’s Class A shares and 27.7% of the club’s Class B shares, with a further $100m to be invested by December 31, 2024.
These funds are intended to enable future investment in infrastructure at Old Trafford.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of chemicals giant INEOS, said: “To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honour and comes with great responsibility. This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world class facilities for our fans. Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”
Joel Glazer, executive co-chairman, said: “I would like to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner and look forward to working closely with him and INEOS Sport to deliver a bright future for Manchester United.”
