Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s much-anticipated deal to invest in Manchester United has been delayed until next week at the earliest, i understands.
Why is Ratcliffe’s Man Utd takeover delayed?
The British billionaire’s Ineos team were expecting to finally confirm a deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in United by the end of the international break but i has been told that progress on paperwork and legal affairs has been “slower than expected”.
With no announcement on Wednesday the Thanksgiving holiday in the US will push ratification of the deal into next week. The Ineos investment must first be announced on the New York Stock Exchange, which is closed on Thursday and only open for a half day on Friday when no substantial business is expected to take place.
A source stressed there are “no issues of substance” and the minority stake deal – which values the Red Devils at £4.4bn – should now be announced next week.
After next week’s announcement, Ratcliffe will then need to go through the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test along with checks carried out by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. They are estimated to take up to four weeks, although the hope is they can be expedited because he is only a minority investor.
What will happen after the takeover?
While it is a frustration for Ratcliffe and his team, who are ready to get to work on United and want to be in place before the January transfer window, they are stressing theirs is a “long-term commitment” and “not just about one player trading period”.
Wednesday marks a year since United were put up for sale by the Glazer family as they announced a strategic review of the business.
Multiple sources who have been involved with the process told i that brokering a full takeover had proved impossible, with one describing the pace of progress as “tortuous”. Ratcliffe needed to tailor his offer several times to get his foot in the door at Old Trafford in a deal that both works for the Glazers and will also allow him to affect change.
But there has been scepticism in much of the fanbase about how much of a new start it will actually represent. Ratcliffe is acutely aware of that and has been taking advice from several high-profile figures previously linked to United about the best way to proceed. His group intend to engage with fan groups as soon as the deal has been finalised.
Will Ratcliffe make changes?
What happens once Ratcliffe’s gets his feet under the table is unclear, although Richard Arnold’s departure as chief executive last week hints at the major changes on the horizon.
It has been widely expected that the club’s director of football John Murtough will follow Arnold out of the exit door at Old Trafford but that talk has been labelled “premature”.
Insiders say announcement of the deal will bring some clarity and there will be the first public proclamations from Ratcliffe, along with more granular details about the deal – such as who has responsibility for football affairs and whether the minority investor has a path to assuming full control.
But there will be no “Big Bang” next week of hirings and firings.
“We’ve maintained all along that we need to get inside the place to see what is happening and why it is happening before making any changes,” a source said.
“Everyone can be an armchair quarterback but you can’t diagnosis any problems until you actually see what is going on. It’s not a case of Paul Mitchell or Dougie Freedman waiting by the door with bags packed. “