Club Sale | It’s done!

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Godfather

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Let's hope it's them. In the Ben Jacobs interview, he did say that the sale has been designed by Raine -- by Americans for the American investment market. And he mentioned that in these situations, someone is lurking in the dark and may pop up in the last minute as the potential winner.
For M&A transactions that is sadly true from my experience. Expect the unexpected. But we'll know tomorrow who the bidders are will be which is a start.
 
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redNATION

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Yeah. UAE is allied with Saudi Arabia, Qatar is allied with Iran (or at least that's my understanding).

Mentioned this elsewhere, but I can honestly see the Qataris trying to lure Guardiola as a feck you to Abu Dhabi. It would be totally unfair on ETH and would doubtless fail, but they will be desperate to make a grand gesture at the start of their reign.
Qatar isn’t allied with Iran, they share a giant gas field so is in favour of a more diplomatic relationship rather than the aggressive approach UAE and Saudi want. They also have different geopolitical goals, such as Qatar supporting more Islamic leaning parties in places like Egypt and Libya whereas UAE wants autocrats (like Sisi in Egypt) they can control.
 

Telsim

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This is for the fans, not the Glazers. I'm sure they're already in negotiations, but what will also be appealing to the Glazers is if they can have a smooth and quick sale.
I know who it is for, that's what I meant, but it's meaningless, unless they pay the full price or manage to reach another agreement satisfactory to the Glazers. Qatar may be trying to get the fans on their side with sweet words about infrastructure, Mbappe, Bellingham, the who shebang, but fan pressure has never meant anything to our illustrious owners. They won't accept anything less than what they want, particularly if £4,5bn is the highest Qatar will go, and they've proven they will walk away.

I'm a pathological cynic, courtesy of the Glazers' ownership. The club will either remain in their hands or be sold off to another bunch of clueless Americans, probably someone they are chummy with, or someone they have mutual ventures with. Can't see all this ending any other way. We will know soon enough.
 

sglowrider

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For M&A transactions that is sadly true from my experience. Expect the unexpected. But we'll know tomorrow who the bidders will be which is a start.
Maybe the Qataris caught wind of the potential bidder who the Raine Group's leaning towards -- and thus the PR piece of urban regeneration of the SW Manchester area?
I cant see a PE bidder offering what the Abu Dhabians or the Qataris could potentially do. Way too long a timeline for any PE never mind, local boy Ratcliffe.
 

Godfather

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Maybe the Qataris caught wind of the potential bidder who the Raine Group's leaning towards -- and thus the PR piece of urban regeneration of the SW Manchester area?
I cant see a PE bidder offering what the Abu Dhabians or the Qataris could potentially do. Way too long a timeline for any PE never mind, local boy Ratcliffe.
Maybe. Impossible to tell but it is kind of weird the way the PR machine is in full swing before a bid has been lodged. Although I've never been part of a transaction involving a football club so maybe they are just trying to get the fans on board as early as possible. Or all of Keegan's articles are pure guesswork or from poor sources.
 

AneRu

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I wouldn't dismiss this too soon. The Qataris won't just pay 6 billion without wanting to exploit the other untapped potential assets of United. It would make things more politically palatable for sure.
Its very possible.
Keegan is obviously a mouthpiece for the Qatari, and their PR is in full swing. It will amount to nothing, unless they kowtow to the Glazers' demands.
Maybe he has a low level source and the fact that he is a lone wolf on this story ensures they have plausible deniability. If they fail they can always say they couldn't convince UEFA so they decided to just focus on PSG.

Another school of thought would say this has some of the hallmarks of an initial PR onslaught reflecting their confidence and they just need to condition skeptical fans to the inevitability of their takeover and the big plans they have not only for the club but for the city too. For such a proud people coming out publicly like this can only reflect confidence and having seen Avram Glazer in Qatar its unreasonable to think they know what it will take to win and they are prepared to eventually pay it but they need to manage the optics for their domestic politics.
 

Fahad Jawaid

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I agree about the possible dividends or management consultant fees they can possible extract. Ratcliffe has a tendency to buy distress assets or assets they were discarded by the Big 3 due to strategic changes/pivots. (Also why I thought the monies taken out by the Glazers, 15-30million quaterly/annually were actually peanuts considering how much they valued United as an asset.)

Something just doesn't sound right to me -- a 70y.o man wanting to buy United as an asset appreciation investment. Roping in JP Morgan (financier of the ESL) just seems tone-deaf or there is something we are not seeing.
See there are several other ways through which they can earn except dividend:

1) Management fees could be charged from the club.
2) Several investors being interested in their other assets or companies and getting favourable deals due to being associated with Manutd.
3) Getting sponsors through Marketing associated with Manutd for their other businesses.
4) Selling some minor percentage of shares and getting a huge one off payment, when market is at its peak or stock price is high for manutd.
5) Eventual capital gain when selling off Utd.
 

sglowrider

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See there are several other ways through which they can earn except dividend:

1) Management fees could be charged from the club.
2) Several investors being interested in their other assets or companies and getting favourable deals due to being associated with Manutd.
3) Getting sponsors through Marketing associated with Manutd for their other businesses.
4) Selling some minor percentage of shares and getting a huge one off payment, when market is at its peak or stock price is high for manutd.
5) Eventual capital gain when selling off Utd.
Good points.
 

Marcelinho87

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Let's hope it's them. In the Ben Jacobs interview, he did say that the sale has been designed by Raine -- by Americans for the American investment market. And he mentioned that in these situations, someone is lurking in the dark and may pop up in the last minute as the potential winner.
You speak as though owners taking money out is a regular thing... The Glazers are alone in this it's unprecedented and I doubt INEOS would do it.

Debt for them equals tax relief, so it helps a business.

Debt at this level is not like you owing a 2 grand loan.
 

Flexdegea

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Yeah. UAE is allied with Saudi Arabia, Qatar is allied with Iran (or at least that's my understanding).

Mentioned this elsewhere, but I can honestly see the Qataris trying to lure Guardiola as a feck you to Abu Dhabi. It would be totally unfair on ETH and would doubtless fail, but they will be desperate to make a grand gesture at the start of their reign.

What is with these ridiculous hot takes regarding Pep, are people just fishing :lol:
 
Can’t anyone read?

golden_blunder

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Wow, wading through the last 10 pages it’s almost like we said post all the moralising arguments and off topic stuff you want. I mean it’s not like we have a thread for that. Down with just keeping this to purely sale driven talk. Good work guys
 

devilish

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Wow, wading through the last 10 pages it’s almost like we said post all the moralising arguments and off topic stuff you want. I mean it’s not like we have a thread for that. Down with just keeping this to purely sale driven talk. Good work guys
When I asked a question about Qatar vs Abu Dhabi in terms of wealth etc I was told off. Honestly its full Greta Thunberg/Madre Theresa in here.
 

Tiber

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I never wanted a middle east oil money. But il take it over American hedge funds and consortiums
 

TrebleChamp99

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Just popping in to say, dont expect to hear about the bidders on Friday its just a soft deadline for intent to bid.
 

strandty

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You would imagine that it won't stay silent for long as the Club will need to make statements due to them being publicly listed however, they also mentioned that they will not necessarily make any statement unless the Board approve a specific transaction.

I would imagine that interested parties may start making public noises next week saying if they've thrown their hat in the ring or not.
 

sglowrider

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Big day tomorrow.
I doubt if there will be any big press announcement. It's only a preliminary cut off point. Even with leaks who knows if it will be the eventual winner.
The PR activity by Qatar makes me a little concerned.
 

Telsim

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Just popping in to say, dont expect to hear about the bidders on Friday its just a soft deadline for intent to bid.
Yep. The bids don't even have to be made public at this stage. The actual deadline is definitely the start of next month, which is when the formal process will begin. And that's if the Glazers remain committed to the sale of the club.
 

NLunited

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What is with these ridiculous hot takes regarding Pep, are people just fishing :lol:
I don‘t know, but show me a tweet where the Qataris say they want to keep Ten Hag. All I have seen are promises of train stations, Mbappés and Bellinghams.

Although if they did, it would be meaningless because once they own United, they can do whatever they feel like.

The City fans expect Pep to jump ship before they ever get slapped with punishments.
 

Tiber

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Surprised it's not ramping up that much with a day to go.
Suppose it's very different to the government imposed Chelsea deadlines. This is just step 1 in a more flexible process which is crawling with NDAs
 

Telsim

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I don‘t know, but show me a tweet where the Qataris say they want to keep Ten Hag. All I have seen are promises of train stations, Mbappés and Bellinghams.

Although if they did, it would be meaningless because once they own United, they can do whatever they feel like.

The City fans expect Pep to jump ship before they ever get slapped with punishments.
Moot point. They haven't said they will get rid of him either. The most recent owner to come in and sack a coach was American, by the way. A very questionable decision in retrospect, to say the least. Newcastle on the other hand have done splendidly ever since. There are no guarantees with any owner in this regard. And to be brutally honest, if Ten Hag is the price to get rid of the leeches, I would see him out myself.

The thing about Pep is absolute nonsense.
 

strandty

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I don‘t know, but show me a tweet where the Qataris say they want to keep Ten Hag. All I have seen are promises of train stations, Mbappés and Bellinghams.

Although if they did, it would be meaningless because once they own United, they can do whatever they feel like.

The City fans expect Pep to jump ship before they ever get slapped with punishments.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ited-Qatari-investors-make-bid-club-DAYS.html

Think the fact they apparently want to give him a HUGE transfer kitty hints that they don't want him to go anywhere.
 

romufc

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Moot point. They haven't said they will get rid of him either. The most recent owner to come in and sack a coach was American, by the way. A very questionable decision in retrospect, to say the least. Newcastle on the other hand have done splendidly ever since. There are no guarantees with any owner in this regard. And to be brutally honest, if Ten Hag is the price to get rid of the leeches, I would see him out myself.

The thing about Pep is absolute nonsense.
Newcastle also got new manager when new owners came.
 

Adam-Utd

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ETH is the best manager available outside of Guardiola and Klopp. He isn't going anywhere :houllier:
 

troylocker

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Wow, wading through the last 10 pages it’s almost like we said post all the moralising arguments and off topic stuff you want. I mean it’s not like we have a thread for that. Down with just keeping this to purely sale driven talk. Good work guys
It's hard to keep moral arguments out of it when a tyrant absolute monarchy state is in pole position to get a bid over the line and become our new owner. It will have a massive impact on the fans and how people in general will look at the club. Millions of fans will turn their backs on the club and I'm one of them. Any trophy Man United wins in the future with a dictators money, will mean nothing to a lot of people who's loved and followed this club all their lives. We will be despiced like PSG, City and Newcastle for the wrong reasons and be a symbol of everything that's wrong with football at the top level, and rightly so. How much money the Emir of Qatar has and what we could do with it really isn't interesting, because it we would be just another hollow sportwashing tool. This is the time where Manchester United fans really has the chance to say: "NO! WE won't have it! Not us!"

...., but do we?
This thread (And a couple of other theads in here) is the most depressing thing on internet right now.

I'll take a break from this thread now.
 
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