The Glazer family has been offered the financial backing to remain as owners of Manchester United by American hedge fund Elliott Management after the New York-based group registered an interest in investing in the Premier League club.
The Glazers family put the club up for sale and received bid from British businessperson Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of chemicals company INEOS, and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank ahead of last Friday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline for offers to be registered with Raine.
Elliott’s emergence in the sale process of United opens up the prospect of Joel and Avram Glazer, the club’s co-chairs, retaining an interest in the club, despite deep-rooted opposition from the United fan base to the American family that also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Following their announcement last November that they had enlisted Raine Group, the U.S. bank that oversaw the £2.5 billion sale of Chelsea last May, to seek “strategic alternatives” for the running of United, the Glazers have received at least two offers from rival bidders to buy the 20-time English champions.
Elliott, which previously financed former AC Milan owner Li Yonghong before the Italian club were sold to Redbird in 2022, is regarded as one of the largest activist investor funds in the world with a reputation for aggressive tactics in asset management.
According to report in 2012, the Argentine naval ship ARA Libertad was seized by Elliott in an attempt to collect bonds on which the Argentine government had defaulted in 2001.
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