Why The Manchester United Takeover Isn’t What It Seems
The Manchester United takeover saga looks like it might finally reach a conclusion this week, with INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% bid awaiting approval from the club's board. But with the Glazers retaining their majority stake, how exactly would the new structure work, and is this a good thing for Manchester United?
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00:00 Hello everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here, and the sale of Manchester United might finally,
00:09 maybe nearly almost, be nearing some kind of conclusion, possibly.
00:14 Reports initially emerged that Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Sani, who was definitely a real
00:20 person by the way, he totally existed and that was all real, he'd er, he'd withdrawn
00:25 his bid.
00:26 But after his full takeover of the club, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's partial takeover was nearing
00:30 completion.
00:31 But what does any of that mean?
00:32 Is it good news for Manchester United fans?
00:34 Is it good news for Manchester United the club?
00:36 Is it even good news for Manchester United the business?
00:40 Well, the very short answer is, maybe.
00:46 So first off, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, born in Falesworth, Greater Manchester, is a British billionaire,
00:51 engineer and chairman of chemical giant Ineos.
00:54 He's reported to be the second richest man in the UK and his net worth, at last estimate,
00:59 is of almost £30 billion.
01:01 He owns FC Luzon Sport, currently third bottom of the Swiss league, having been relegated
01:06 in 2022, and OGC Nice, who are currently second in Ligue 1 and got to the quarterfinals of
01:12 last year's Europa Conference League.
01:14 He also put something in the region of £4.2 billion up to try and buy Chelsea when Abramovich
01:20 was hurriedly shredding all its documents but lost out to Todd Bowley.
01:23 The proposed new structure would see Ratcliffe take control of sporting decisions immediately.
01:29 Both him and other representatives from Ineos would take seats on the board, meaning that
01:34 in matters relating to the actual football, they would have enough influence within the
01:38 company to basically do as they please.
01:41 They wouldn't need approval for transfers, sales, investments, firing and appointing
01:46 managers, scouting, recruitment, development, all the really good stuff from any of the
01:51 glazers.
01:52 The results are that he has really ambitious plans for this part of the operation, and
01:56 would look to entirely restructure the club with his own hand-picked appointments.
02:01 Julian Ward and Michael Edwards, two of the men responsible for Liverpool's resurgence
02:05 in recent years, have been mentioned.
02:07 Paul Mitchell, the man behind the transfer golden periods of Southampton under Pochettino,
02:12 Tottenham also under Pochettino, and more recently RB Leipzig, is said to be their top
02:17 target.
02:18 Yet in the various other roles that all feed into the club's footballing operation, there
02:22 are rumours of significant outgoings.
02:25 Unite the Chief Executive Richard Arnold, being chief amongst them, with every position
02:29 likely to see some form of upheaval if Ratcliffe takes control.
02:43 In the six years before Ratcliffe bought Nice for 100 million euros, the club finished in
02:47 the top four of Ligue 1 three times.
02:49 In the 2016/17 season, they were top of the table at Christmas, lost just four games all
02:55 season and very nearly upset PSG to the title.
02:59 But since his acquisition in 2019, it's been a continuing period of upheaval with no success
03:04 to show for it.
03:05 Big money Premier League players like Kasper Schmeichel, Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley and
03:10 Nicolas Pepe have all come and gone without any real impact, and there was, ahead of this
03:14 season, a growing sense of detachment between the club and its fans.
03:19 However, at the time of recording, they are second in the table and the only undefeated
03:24 side in Ligue 1, so it may be starting to finally turn around.
03:44 Well when Ratcliffe initially approached the club, he was looking to buy 51% of it, and
03:49 he wanted to do so entirely through the stake that the Glazers owned.
03:53 However, this ultimately fell through because, according to The Athletic, while the non-Glazer
03:58 members of the board only control 10% of the voting rights, they threatened legal action
04:03 against the sale because, with Ratcliffe not offering to buy any of their shares, they
04:07 stood to lose out on a significant financial windfall.
04:10 This new bid is for a mere 25% of the company, and has, reportedly, been accepted.
04:16 However, it now has to be approved by the club's board of directors, 12 people who
04:21 between them control 100% of the company.
04:24 Now despite the whole complexities of the structuring, meaning that the Glazers have
04:28 90% of the voting power, that counts for nothing at this level, and a majority decision between
04:34 these 12 individuals must now be reached.
04:45 So who are these 12 people?
04:47 Well, you've got six Glazers in there.
04:50 Avram and Joel operate as co-chairmen of the club and oversee the majority of its business.
04:55 Kevin Glazer, Darcy Glazer, Edward Glazer and Brian Glazer are also on the board, but
04:59 don't really bother themselves with the club, focusing instead on the other concerns
05:03 within their father's business empire.
05:05 Brian Glazer runs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who, I promise you, are a real American football
05:10 team and not a name I've just made up now because it sounds really American.
05:14 Kevin Glazer runs Glazer Properties, a primarily American-based real estate firm that owns
05:19 some of the ugliest buildings you've ever seen in your life.
05:22 Edward Glazer is the chair of US Property Trust and US Auto Trust, which is exactly
05:27 as boring as it sounds, and Darcy Glazer spends her time running the Glazer Family Foundation,
05:32 which is a charitable, non-profit dedicated to, and I quote, "supporting programs designed
05:38 to serve disadvantaged youth and families."
05:40 Which is really great, but when you try and Google a single one of those programs, nothing
05:45 really comes up.
05:46 Oh well.
05:47 Outside of the family, there are three positions for senior members of the club staff.
05:51 The aforementioned Chief Executive Richard Arnold, Awkward CFO Cliff Batty and the club's
05:56 long-standing legal counsel, Patrick Stewart.
05:59 Annoyingly, if you Google Patrick Stewart Man United, you get this clip from some movie
06:03 in the 90s, and just apologies, but I'm not able to offer any decent context to that at
06:09 this time.
06:10 But I will look it up.
06:11 Anyway, there's also three individuals who, between them, represent the interests of the
06:15 numerable minority shareholders who all own a tiny little chunk of the club.
06:20 And they are a weird group.
06:22 You've got John Hooks, who's been at the very top of the tree for Ralph Lauren and
06:26 Giorgio Armani, Manu Swani, who was the Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council,
06:31 and Robert Liotto, who works for banking giant Rothschild.
06:34 If you've never heard of them, they're a bank you need £100,000 just to open an
06:40 account with.
06:41 Anyway, Radcliffe's bid needs the approval of at least seven of these individuals.
06:45 In the event of a tie, the casting votes would fall to both Joel and Avram, who are believed
06:50 to want to push this through, so it's almost certainly going to happen.
06:55 But, and this is the big question, is that a good thing?
06:58 Well, that depends on which side of the argument you fall on as a Man United fan.
07:03 While Radcliffe might personally represent quite a palatable owner, especially compared
07:07 to the Qatari investment, the idea of the Glazers remaining involved in such a significant
07:12 capacity makes it a complete non-starter for big sections of the support.
07:18 Full sale only banners have been a frequent sight in Manchester United away ends both
07:22 in last season and in this.
07:24 However, to others, the problem isn't necessarily the Glazers themselves, it's that, how can
07:30 I put this, they're idiots.
07:33 A collection of incredibly average business people who've found themselves as one of
07:37 the most powerful families in the world purely by virtue of just inheriting that mantle from
07:43 their father.
07:44 They'd probably be fine if they had the first idea what they were doing, or could even admit
07:49 that they didn't, and Radcliffe effectively buying that responsibility from them could
07:53 actually be a really good solution?
07:56 Plus, and it's all unconfirmed at this stage, but reportedly one of the reasons why Radcliffe
08:01 is prepared to take such a small stake in the company now is because it includes some
08:06 unwritten agreements that he will continue to take further and further control as time
08:11 goes on.
08:12 So it certainly isn't a full sale now, but it might end up being one.
08:16 We'll have to think, like every single other element of this takeover, nobody's gonna know
08:21 until it just happens.
08:23 Will it go through?
08:24 What sort of power will he wield?
08:26 Will he actually be any good at it?
08:28 Is Ten Hag's job safe?
08:30 These questions will literally only get answered one at a time, and the very first one comes
08:35 this week with that board meeting.
08:38 So yes, Manchester United fans, it looks like all your prayers are finally going to be answered.
08:43 Provided that your prayers were exclusively limited to, "Dear God, I hope that the Glazers
08:49 sell a minority stake in Manchester United."
08:51 I have absolutely no idea what to make of this.
08:54 So if you are a Manchester United fan, please do let us know in the comments whether this
08:57 is what you want.
08:58 Is this a good thing?
08:59 Do you only want a full sale?
09:01 Is this fine if it becomes a full sale, but it's bad if it doesn't?
09:04 Do you like the look of Radcliffe?
09:05 Do you think he's a good person for the club?
09:07 Just anything, anything and everything, please, in the comments below.
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09:23 So I would be very grateful if you could do that.
09:25 And of course, if you fancy it, you can grab me on all the social medias at Adam Cleary,
09:29 C-L-E-R-Y, the 442 socials.
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09:34 The brand new issue of the mag is like literally two days away.
09:37 Orange Pasta Cogloute on the colour.
09:39 That's very exciting.
09:40 And until next time, I'm just going to shut up now.
09:42 I've been Adam Cleary.
09:43 That's the Man United situation, and I'll see you soon.
09:47 Bye.
09:47 Bye.
09:48 Bye.
09:49 Bye.
09:50 Bye.
09:51 Bye.
09:51 Bye.
09:52 Bye.
09:53 Bye.
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09:55 Bye.
09:56 Bye.
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09:59 Bye.
10:00 Bye.
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