By Kieran Maguire

20th May, 2023 | 8:00am

Kieran Maguire: Ratcliffe can 'force' Glazers to sell Man United as new takeover clause revealed

Sir Jim Ratcliffe could ‘force’ the Glazers to sell their remaining Man United shares by inserting a put-and-call agreement into the takeover deal.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the structure of Ratcliffe’s takeover bid.

As reported by Sky News, Ratcliffe’s £5bn takeover bid for the Red Devils includes a put-and-call option to buy the Glazer’s remaining shares after three years.

Ratcliffe’s latest offer was for a controlling stake of just over 50 per cent, according to the Daily Mail, allowing the Glazers to keep around 19 per cent of the club under their control.

But a put-and-call option would allow Ratcliffe to buy the Glazers out of their remaining shares by 2026, giving him the 69 per cent stake currently owned by the American family.

Maguire believes such a deal would give Ratcliffe more ‘flexibility’ while also allowing him to spread the cost of the takeover over multiple years.

“There is a cash flow element to this decision,” Maguire told Football Insider.

“A put-and-call option means that Ratcliffe can force the Glazers to sell the rest of their shares at an agreed price in the future.

“This gives all parties a degree of flexibility going forwards.

“Joel and Avram Glazer are convinced that Man United is considerably undervalued in the market and that‘s why they want to still have skin in the game.

“Ratcliffe may be the wealthiest man in the UK but INEOS has other responsibilities and I don’t think he’ll want to overburden his cash flow with a huge takeover price.

“A deal like this allows him to spread the cost.“

In other news, Big Man United takeover update as preferred bidder revealed