PREMIER LEAGUE RATIFY RATCLIFFE’S MAN UTD STAKE – INEOS’s 25% purchase of Manchester United has been ratified
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a 25% stake in Manchester United was ratified by the Premier League after he passed the organisation’s owners’ and directors’ test.
The $1.25 billion deal, in which the INEOS chairman will also invest $300 million into club infrastructure and take charge of the club’s soccer operations, was struck in December. “Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of 25 per cent of Manchester United FC, and further investment of $300 million in the club, has been approved by the Premier League Board following the completion of the OADT,” a statement read.
The Football Association still needs to rubber-stamp the 71-year-old’s investment in United but that is seen as a formality. Lifelong supporter Ratcliffe’s buy-in ended more than a year of uncertainty after majority owners, the Glazer family, said in November 2022 they were looking at strategic options for investment into the club they took control of in 2005.
In its statement the Premier League said it was the first acquisition of control to be reviewed and approved by a new Independent Oversight Panel following changes to the process which were agreed by Premier League clubs in March 2023.
