Good post. I agree, way too many doom-mongers on here that just wanted the Qatar sugar daddy.
You said...
His initial 25% stake would give him 40% weight when it comes to board voting rights.
Where is that from?
As, im not sure if that is the case. No one knows which shares Ineos will buy and what voting control The Glazers will give up.
The Athletic said Ineos will get sporting control. I support that if it means the likes of Paul Mitchell join the club, but quite honestly, there is no reason why The Glazers couldn't go out and employ him to turn him, so what do Ineos really bring?
I agree with the fact that Ratcliffe is clearly a savvy businessman and it this is the step he had to take to get full control of the club, both sporting and on the business site, then fair enough.
Im just a little worried that Ratcliffe may have sacrificed some of his business principles, just to get control of the sporting side of the club. I worry that he has come in and said to the Glazers that he will buy 25%, improve the teams performance with a view to allow The Glazers to sell for a greater price in the near future.
Thank you.
Re. the 25% stake giving him 40% weight in board votes: I heard that on a video posted by United Muppetiers yesterday evening. I don't know how much of an authority he is, but he seems to have said some pretty sensible and on-point things in the past week or so and would appear to have a well-placed source in Ineos. As things will stand, the Glazers still have ultimate decision-making power -
if they are capable of clubbing together and agreeing, but it would seem they are quite a fractured bunch. Ratcliffe has said nice things publicly about the Glazers, so let's hope he's able to navigate the politics and get people onside. The last thing we need is a power struggle.
You're right that the Glazers could make their own appointments like Mitchell, or Edwards, but we've got nearly two decades of experience that suggests they don't have the nous or desire to make such a decision. I've been talking to friends today and one of them said that we'd have been unstoppable with Qatari money, but that kinda misses the point for me. We've always spent well since Ferguson left, but it's been directionless splurging. I'm quite excited by the idea of getting expert football / sporting executives in place. (As an aside, I see that the Ineos Sport CEO used to be at PSG and Juventus - and his hallmark project was the development of the new Juve stadium and surrounding area - so we are talking about a lot of relevant experience across their institution.)
I understand your concerns in terms of the Glazers potentially moving the goalposts further down the line, but that's where I'm making a leap of faith that Ratcliffe and his people will have the appropriate contractual provisions in place to ensure the eventual full buyout is nothing more than a formality. That said, I'm not expert on corporate M&A, so will defer to the experts when it comes to potential pitfalls.
My preference, like many other fans, would have been a full sale but this is the second-best option - as opposed to the Glazers staying and keeping the status quo.
Fingers crossed it works out for the best. God knows we're due a turn of luck!