This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 30, 2023 - November 5, 2023
Buying 25% of a company and getting to call the shots is not something they teach at Harvard Business School. Nor is doing it “for fun” likely to become common practice for hard-nosed entrepreneurs. But self-made British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has outmanoeuvred a Qatari consortium and is on the cusp of controlling “football operations” at his favourite club, Manchester United.
It is harking back to a familiar theme, but the club’s endless takeover saga is about to take a dramatic twist. Ratcliffe, 71, chairman of petrochemical giant Ineos, has won the confidence of the Glazer owners and could soon be running the show on the pitch for an initial investment of just £1.3 billion (RM7.5 billion).
The deal is expected to be ratified by the United board and approved by both the English Premier League and New York Stock Exchange, a process that could take eight weeks. Such an outcome was not remotely foreseen when, almost a year ago, the Glazers announced they were seeking “strategic alternatives”. Their bankers, the Raine Group, predicted they would be brokering deals of between £6 billion and £8 billion.
US tech giants had been expected to seize the opportunity to monetise the Devils’ billion-strong fan base but not, apparently, at that price. So, for most of the 11 months the club was up for sale, the lowball offers — only the fourth of which crept above £5 billion — by Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation led the race until the local boy pulled off a masterstroke.
Sensing a split among the six Glazer siblings, with co-chairmen Joel and Avram less willing to relinquish the reins than the other four, Ratcliffe proposed a left-field solution: he would buy a minority stake from whoever wanted to sell in exchange for control of football matters, leaving the family to look after the commercial side.
It was not only audacious but betrayed the wishful thinking of a lifelong fan. Having accrued more money than he can ever spend — his fortune is estimated at £29.6 billion — Ratcliffe had already declared that it was “time to have fun”. And as a keen sports fan who still takes part in triathlons, he began to build a vast and diverse sporting empire. Manchester United would be the jewel in the crown.
“Why buy anything but the best?” he asked as he snapped up the top teams in the Tour de France, Formula One and rugby as well as backing multiple Olympic champion Ben Ainslie in a bid for the America’s Cup. He dubbed the yachtsman “the Usain Bolt of sailing”.
His forays into football at OGC Nice in France’s Ligue Un and FC Lausanne-Sport in the Swiss Super League were more modest but have proved valuable stepping stones. He put in a late bid for Chelsea, which raised doubts about his Devils’ loyalty, but his London pad is near the ground as is Nice’s to his Monaco home. He likes his football to be on his doorstep and United were not for sale back then.
Once they were, Ratcliffe soon endeared himself to the Glazer family. Reserving much of his ire for the way United was run for officials in Manchester, he also turned up in person during the bidding process — unlike his rival. And he capped all that by pulling off a historic first in calling the loathed leverage buyout merchants “nice people”.
It was a charm offensive that the Qataris could not match even though they made most of the early running. Apart from wanting to buy 100% of the club, the Sheikh promised spare billions for new signings and ground improvements. But he scored an own goal by slamming the owners for “under-investing”.
Against this, Ratcliffe’s initial offer almost matched the Qatari’s figure but for just the 69% of United that the Glazers owned. With sportswashing barely mentioned, most fans favoured the Qatari bid while continuing their “Glazer out” protests.
However, what many of them overlooked, but the Glazers did not, was that Ratcliffe, although offering less, was valuing the club higher than the Sheikh. And he confirmed that he would eventually buy it all. But still the siblings couldn’t agree and the process dragged on.
Then Ratcliffe played his trump card to which the Glazers, also tiring of the impasse, warmed, whereas the Sheikh, fed up with the owners’ prevarications, withdrew his offer.
It is not even close to what they — and United fans — wanted, but the Glazers will have a lump of cash and remain in charge. The plan is to set up a three-man committee to look after football matters, including signing players. On it will be Joel Glazer, Ratcliffe and his right-hand man David Brailsford, who masterminded an era of British cycling success.
If it seems like a disappointing draw for the Glazers, it is a rare defeat for Qatar and a dream-come-true, come-from-behind victory for the local boy. On whether it is a good result for Manchester United, the jury is very much out.
The prospect of a cycling coach being involved was met with ridicule among fans who, all along, have been slow to warm to Ratcliffe. Quips ranged from “On yer bike” to “the last nail in our coffin”. His promise to “put the Manchester back into United” was nullified by allowing the Glazers to linger on. And they felt the oil-rich Qataris had more money anyway.
But they were not the only reasons: Many of Ratcliffe’s stars have lost their glitter since coming under his wing. The Sky cycling team have not been the same force as Ineos Grenadiers while Mercedes lost their monopoly of F1 soon after Ratcliffe took a 33% stake. Even New Zealand’s mighty All Blacks rugby team briefly looked like mortals after Ineos became a partner. But worst was the British yacht’s humiliation in the America’s Cup. It’s been called the “Ineos curse”, and however it is viewed, Ratcliffe’s touch is yet to be confused with that of Midas.
It’s in football where he is under the most scrutiny. In four seasons under Ineos, Nice has finished fifth, ninth, fifth and ninth in the French top flight, but is currently second only to Paris Saint Germain. Lausanne, on the other hand, has been a yo-yo club in Switzerland. Fans at both have been critical of a managerial sacking and dud signings. Given what he has said about United, the “pot and kettle” idiom has been hard to resist.
It’s on the pitch where he will win or lose this battle. If the make-up of his proposed troika does not inspire confidence, as always, the key men will be the manager and director of football (DoF).
Current boss Erik ten Hag has said he is “in the dark” about Ratcliffe’s plans but his position looks safer than DoF, John Murtough or CEO Richard Arnold. Recruitment is the area Ratcliffe has highlighted as a weakness so the January transfer window will provide an early opportunity to make an impression.
But from a lofty perch with so many lieutenants, there is only so much even a magic wand can do. He will need all the Grit, Rigour & Humour of his best-selling Ineos story that got him this far as well as, like everyone in football, a favourable bounce or two to lift the Ineos curse.
Bob Holmes is a long-time sportswriter specialising in football
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