Joe Ravitch, co-founder and partner at Raine Group, has described his meeting with Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani regarding the Qatari’s bid to buy Manchester United.
Raine were tasked with acting as United’s financial advisor during the takeover process, which concluded in February with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS securing their purchase of a minority stake.
United confirmed in December that a deal had been agreed for Ratcliffe to take a 25 per cent stake in the club, with the Glazer family diluting their shares, rather than leaving altogether. Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company INEOS is buying an even split of Class B + Class A shares at $33 (£26) each for an overall cost of $1.3bn.
Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim — a member of the Qatari royal family and the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) — were the two frontrunners, although the Qatari kept a low public profile.
That led Ratcliffe to joke, following his minority takeover being approved: “Still nobody’s ever seen him (Sheikh Jassim), actually. The Glazers never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!”
However, in an interview with The Times, Ravitch has outlined his meeting with the Qatari banker, who did not match Ratcliffe’s valuation of United.
“We met Jassim,” Ravitch said. “He was in New York. He’s a lovely guy; a very smart guy. The Qataris were very real. They were very smart guys, very thoughtful. I don’t know why they didn’t appreciate the value [of the club] but we were not their adviser.
“We tried as the seller to explain the value to them, and they put what they thought was a series of very serious bids on the table.”
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Ravitch added that Raine “thought the value would be around $6.5bn [£5bn]” and used the example of NFL team Washington Commanders being sold for $6bn as an indicator that United’s greater brand awareness ensured any bid would need to be in excess of that valuation.
“I think the Qataris got to about $5.75bn,” Ravitch added. “We said to them, ‘You’re within 10 per cent, why don’t you get in a room and try to get to a deal.’ But they said no. I think they were very conscious of criticism if they were seen to be overpaying.”
Ravitch added that he believed Sheikh Jassim’s group would have been “good owners” for United but that they believed the Glazers “made the right decision” in going with Ratcliffe after the respective valuations.
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Man Utd paid Raine Group $31.5m to facilitate Ratcliffe deal
(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
