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Manchester United stock (NYSE:MANU) jumped 11% Monday morning alongside multiple reports that Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim is emerging as the buyer of the storied soccer club.
The sheikh has been engaged in a multi-month pursuit of the club against billionaire and Ineos Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, since the November announcement from the owning Glazer family that it was weighing a sale in part or in whole.
In the intervening months, multiple stories have suggested twists and turns in the Glazers’ minds about how much they wanted to sell. Now the stock is jumping on tabloid reports that Sheikh Jassim has been doing due diligence and pursuing the full sale of the club at a £6B valuation, and that the club is convinced a sale can be completed by November (partway through a new season).
Ratcliffe’s bid is reportedly for less overall than that of the sheikh, but also provides for keeping the Glazers on in a minority ownership stake.
