Sources: Sir Jim Ratcliffe submitting formal Man United takeover offer amid £8billion reveal
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is preparing to submit a formal offer for Man United as the prospect of a world-record takeover edges closer, sources have told Football Insider.
The Glazers want to sell United by April with takeover bids expected to be submitted by mid-February.
Investors from the Middle East, Asia and the United States are poised to go public with their attempts to buy United in the coming weeks.
Ratcliffe is also continuing to monitor the situation closely and is believed to be preparing for a formal offer.
It has been suggested, say insiders, that United could secure a world record for a football club of up to £8million for a full takeover, although others sources have suggested £4m is more realistic.
United, via the New York-based investment bank the Raine Group, are expected to inform interested parties in the coming days that formal bids will be taken next month for total buyouts as well as minority stakes.
There appears still to be flexibility around the mid-February deadline, but the club aims to complete a deal within the first quarter or by the end of April.
The timescale allows for the club to stick with its instructions to have a deal completed before the end of the current season.
United supporters have been calling for a takeover for a number of years and such a deal would bring the Glazers’ 18 years of ownership to an end.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men, is thought to be ready to table a figure which would be dependent on the club’s qualification for the Champions League this May.
That prospect was given a major boost through Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League win over Man City, which lifted United, in third, to within one point of their second-placed neighbours.
Candidates who expressed an appetite to buy Chelsea last year before Todd Boehly bought the club could also make an approach.
Conversations have been held with wealthy Arabic investors and co-owner Avram Glazer flew to the World Cup in Doha last month and held a number of meetings.
In other news, new Man United owners could sign off £100m-a-year+ triple deal.