Ratcliffe completes purchase of a minority stake in Man United

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has completed his purchase of a minority stake in Manchester United, the club said Tuesday.

The 71-year-old Ratcliffe paid $1.3 billion for up to 25% of the club and has already invested $200 million for additional shares, meaning he owns approximately 27.7% of United, it said. The club said Ratcliffe intends to invest a further $100 million by Dec. 31 “to enable future investment in infrastructure at Old Trafford.”

The deal had already been approved by the English Football Association while the Premier League has cleared Ratcliffe to take up a minority share under its rules regarding who is allowed to be an owner or director of a soccer club.

Ratcliffe is one of Britain’s richest people and the owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS. He

agreed to a deal to buy a stake in United

in December after the Glazer family, which owns the club, put it up for sale in 2022.

“To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honor and comes with great responsibility,” Ratcliffe said in a statement. “This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans. Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”

The Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, eventually opted to sell a minority stake of the 20-time English champion after also fielding bids from Qatari banker

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani

.

“I would like to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner," executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said, "and look forward to working closely with him and INEOS Sport to deliver a bright future for Manchester United.”

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