Man Utd takeover bombshell as Qatar and Ratcliffe bids ‘not received’

The Raine Group reportedly didn’t receive Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bids to buy Manchester United before Wednesday’s 9pm deadline. In a bizarre development, despite a widespread belief that both offers were submitted, it is now claimed that the two parties have requested an extension to give them extra time to submit them.

According to Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol, Raine, the US merchant bank appointed to oversee the Manchester United takeover process, received many proposals before the deadline. However, Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe’s bids were not among those submitted, despite mass reports, including from Solhekol, after 8.30pm stating otherwise.

The report adds that Raine haven’t received the offers in New York. Instead, Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe have requested extensions. And their requests have been granted, giving both parties a chance to submit improved offers from their initial indicative approaches in February.

The Times claim that, despite Qatari and INEOS representatives claiming bids were submitted, both will be sent to Raine on Thursday. Sources close to Ratcliffe had confidently predicted they would put in a bid of over £5billion on the table by the 9pm deadline.

Reports earlier on Wednesday stated that both leading suitors’ bids were in and an increase on their first offers, said to be worth around £4.5billion. The Glazers’ asking price is reportedly between £5bn and £6bn, and Sky Sports state that the American family do intend to sell.

A further update reveals that Sheikh Jassim’s bid was in the process of being lodged before it was discovered that Raine had extended the bidding process. Sheikh Jassim’s Qatar-based group had claimed to have submitted an improved offer, thought to be in excess of £5bn, for 100 per cent of the club earlier on Wednesday.

But they held fire to ‘fine-tune’ their offer while Ratcliffe’s INEOS group continued preparing their second proposal. It is set to be a busy Thursday as United figures wait for the bids to arrive so the Glazers can meet Raine to discuss all options.

Other proposals said to be submitted before the deadline could involve minority investment, an option that will still be on the table if the price isn’t right for the Glazers.