Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of petrochemicals company Ineos, has bought a 25% stake in Manchester United worth around £1.25bn. As part of the acquisition, Ineos Group will manage the club’s football operations, with Ratcliffe also pledging to provide £236m ($300m) for future investments at Old Trafford. The deal comes 13 months after the Glazer family, the club’s American owners, singled out their intention to consider selling as a potential strategic alternative to their ownership of the club.
The Glazers paid £790m ($1.34bn) for the team in 2005. The club has been struggling recently, failing to win the Premier League since 2013, whilst encountering regular protests against the Glazer ownership. Ratcliffe is a lifelong supporter of the club, and said in his statement he wants to provide global knowledge and expertise for the club and tackle the challenges and hard work ahead. He expressed his and the team’s shared ambition of getting Manchester United back to where it truly belongs – at the top of English, European and world football.
The club’s statement claimed the deal is “subject to customary regulatory approvals” but is optimistic the purchase can be completed “as soon as possible.” Inquiry into the deal is expected to be intense, with the UK advertising watchdog already investigating Ineos over a greenwashing complaint. Calls have been made for Ratcliffe to resolve issues at the company before using £1.25bn to buy a football team.
Manchester-born Ratcliffe is the UK’s wealthiest man with a net worth of around £18.2bn ($23bn) on the back of an extraordinary growth in the petrochemicals industry. Ineos is now a dominant player in the European chemical industry and has experienced some success in the sporting world, backing the UK’s highly successful track cycling team and becoming the principal partner of French Ligue 1 team Nice
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