Manchester United and Jim Ratcliffe have agreed to sell 25% of the club’s stakes for GBP 1.25 billion

It was revealed on Sunday that INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe has reached an agreement to acquire a quarter of Manchester United for around £1.25 billion ($1.6 billion) and would assume leadership of the Premier League team’s football operations. Additionally, the 71-year-old British millionaire will provide $300 million for further improvements to the team’s Old Trafford stadium.

“Manchester United announces that it has entered into an agreement under which Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of INEOS, will acquire up to 25 percent of the club’s Class A shares and 25 percent of its Class B shares, as well as provide an additional $300 million to enable future investment into Old Trafford,” read a statement from the club.

“As part of the transaction, INEOS has accepted a request by the board to be delegated responsibility for the management of the club’s football operations.”

Ratcliffe said that he was dedicated to the long run and wants to see the struggling United back at the top of European football.

“As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the club, I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a deal with the Manchester United board that delegates us management responsibility of the football operations of the club,” he said.

“Although the club’s financial prosperity has guaranteed that money has always been available to win championships at the top level, this potential hasn’t been completely realized recently.

“We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the club.”

The deal signals the start of a new chapter for the struggling Premier League team and puts an end to more than a year of rumors over ownership.

The Glazers, the club’s unpopular owners who paid £790 million for it in 2005, started a drawn-out process in November 2022 when they said they were thinking at “strategic alternatives” to assist United expand.

Rival bids for a full buyout, in the neighborhood of £5 billion, were made by Ratcliffe and Qatari financier Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, but they were not sufficient to match the Glazers’ value.

Sheikh Jassim pulled out of the process, but Ratcliffe persisted in trying to acquire a minority stake.

Since 2013, which was Alex Ferguson’s last season as manager, United has not won the Premier League.

They are now 12 points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League and are in eighth place. They have also lost in both the League Cup and the Champions League.

After United’s League Cup victory last season did not result in a repeat of United’s six-year trophy drought, manager Erik Ten Hag’s job is expected to come under intense criticism.

Ratcliffe’s family is heavily involved in sports; they own the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team, Nice, a team in French Ligue 1 and Lausanne-Sport, a team in Switzerland.