The British CEO of the INEOS company now owns 29% of the shares of the Mancunian club.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, has increased his stake in the club to almost 29%, after injecting new money promised when he entered the capital almost a year ago, after a communication from the American financial policeman (SEC) on Thursday. The businessman, CEO of the chemical company INEOS, concluded an agreement on Christmas Eve 2023 to buy 25% of the Premier League club, for 1.250 billion Euros.
This agreement was ratified in February and the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed that the last payment of 100 million dollars (96 M EUR) was made on Wednesday. The disclosure to the SEC, published on Thursday, also confirms that all of Ratcliffe’s shares in Manchester United are being transferred to INEOS from Trawlers Ltd, which acquired the shares from the American Glazer family, majority owners of the club.
“Save Every Pound”
With INEOS now in charge of United’s football operations, Ratcliffe has taken what he calls “difficult and unpopular decisions» since he became co-owner of a club that he considered to have become “poor“. This resulted in the departure of some 250 staff members and the end of the club’s lucrative ambassador contract with Alex Ferguson, emblematic ex-manager of the “Red Devils”, signed in 2013.
The matter was settled amicably and Ferguson will end his duties at the end of the current sporting season, according to press reports. In September, Manchester United announced net losses for the fifth consecutive year, amounting to 113.2 million pounds (133.7 million EUR) for last season, despite record revenues.
But Ratcliffe, 72, recently told supporters magazine United We Stand that the club needed to “save every pound» if he wants to regain his former glory. Despite a spendthrift summer transfer window, the Red Devils, who came under the leadership of Ruben Amorim in November, are in 13th place in the Premier League after sixteen days.
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