Manchester United Agrees to Sell Stake Ownership to Jim Ratcliffe

Manchester United Football Club, a professional soccer club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, has sold 25% of its stake ownership to British billionaire Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe.

He is the chairman and chief executive officer of the INEOS chemicals group, which was established in 1998. He struck a deal with the team to acquire a minority stake in Manchester United.

Price of the Deal

It was agreed that Ratcliffe will buy a minority stake in Manchester United at $33 per share. With this price, the 25% share that he will acquire is equivalent to $6.3 billion. The involved parties confirmed the deal after a source initially shared it.

As per CNN Business, INEOS affirmed that its CEO is purchasing and said in a statement that Ratcliffe will have a quarter of Manchester Unite's Class B shares and up to 25% of its publicly available Class A shares. Ratcliffe will also give an additional $300 million to enable future investment into the team's historic stadium - the Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe Commits to Provide the Club's Needs to Win in Future Tournaments

The Glazer family owns the majority of Manchester United, and Class A shareholders will also get the same price of $33.00 per share. Then again, the stake acquisition deal still needs to be approved by the English Premier League.

"As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the Club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree on a deal with the Manchester United Board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the Club," INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in a press release.

He added, "Whilst the commercial success of the Club has ensured there have always been available funds to win trophies at the highest level, this potential has not been fully unlocked in recent times. We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the Club."

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