Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani has withdrawn his bid for Manchester United after becoming exasperated with the Glazers, i understands.
The Qatari banker pulled out of the running after another series of talks with the United owners, their advisors and Raine, the New York bank overseeing the process.
It is understood Sheikh Jassim’s team made further improved offers after the well-publicised demand for “final” bids in April, and that their most recent offer was close to £5.2bn. But sources close to the bidding process say that the Glazers’ valuation far outstrips that and so the Qatari’s Nine Two Foundation has “reluctantly” withdrawn from the process.
That ends months of negotiations from the Qatari team, who wanted to buy 100 per cent of the club and had pledged a further £1.4bn of investment in the club in infrastructure projects and team building.
It leaves the way clear for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to complete a deal for a minority stake in the club, which is his latest proposal to try and break the impasse of the long-running takeover saga.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS group have proposed a deal that would see them take an initial 25 per cent stake in the club that has emerged as the Glazers’ preferred option but is likely to hit resistance from fans who want the family to sell up.
While Sheikh Jassim’s offer was criticised by many – and the source of funds was opaque, along with information about the man himself – it was the only credible bid proposing to buy United outright.
Nine months of work went into the project and those involved are understood to be deeply frustrated.
While there was no official comment due to confidentiality clauses around the process, i understands that talks came to a head in “the last few days” and ended with the Qatari group concluded the valuation was too high for them to proceed.
Sheikh Jassim is understood to have seen himself as the “dream buyer” of the club and had ambitious plans for investment in the infrastructure, a new vision for sporting success and wanted to put money into the community around Old Trafford. But those plans will not proceed, with the club’s ownership situation still deeply uncertain.