The sale of Manchester United appears to be reaching its endgame.
On Thursday, representatives for Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani reportedly met with club officials at Old Trafford to discuss an improved bid to buy the club from the current owners, the Glazer family.
The Qatari royal was not there himself, but Nine Two Foundation president Shahzad Shahbaz and Fady Bakhos, the Sheikh’s most senior personal advisor, as well as representatives from Bank of America and lawyers from international firm Macfarlanes were in attendance.
Not to be outdone, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe reportedly toured the stadium and met with club officials regarding his bid for the team on Friday. He was also accompanied by his closest advisors.
For several weeks, the consortiums led by Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe have been the two finalists to take over the club.
In late February, the two prospective owners submitted bids for Man United — but both were reportedly too low for the Glazers to consider, leading to this week’s meetings.
The Glazers are supposedly looking for bids in the range of $7.2 billion — a huge jump from the club’s $4.2 billion valuation from the New York Stock Exchange and $4.6 billion from Forbes.
However, the Qatari contingent has publicly said it will not overpay for the club.
Merchant bank Raine Group is overseeing the process.
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