Manchester United could have new owners within SIX weeks

Manchester United could be in new hands within six weeks – with Qatar’s bid to go in on Friday.

Friday marks the ‘soft deadline’ for offers for the Premier League giants, with bids to land by 5pm New York-time, and 10pm here.

As this newspaper revealed, a group of Qatari investors are to make an offer which they feel will be the strongest. It can now be revealed that their bid will be made on the deadline day.

While the aim is to ensure that the process is completed by the summer transfer, it is understood that – based on the interest shown – United could have new owners by the end of next month.

The Qataris are expected to face opposition from four other groups, with interest coming from the US, Asia and the Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Groups from Saudi Arabia have been given access to the data room, which allowed them to pour over United’s financial in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement. It remains to be seen if those groups – separate from Newcastle United’s owners – will make their move.

Those with knowledge of the situation say there is a growing confidence that there will be a successful outcome sooner rather than later, despite the Glazers seeking around £6bn.

A number of bids are known to have already been registered.

There will be no announcements following the expiration of tomorrow night’s deadline. It will then be over to US merchant bankers Raine Group, who are handling the process. 

They will sift through the offers and separate the heavyweights and serious parties from the rest. There will be three groups. The first is those who wish to take full control of United. 

They are expected to come from a group of five, which includes the Qataris. The second group will be made up of those who wish to inject cash onto the balance sheet in exchange for a stake in the club, while the third will be offers of investment and commercial partnerships, where companies could provide services such as retail or media expertise.

There are more than 20 offers in the latter two categories although it remains the case that a complete takeover is the likeliest outcome. Indeed, it may well be the case that some of those from groups two and three will subsequently form consortiums in an attempt to enter into the first group.

Raine will report back to the Glazer family. Should they receive an offer beyond Friday they would be obliged to listen to it, given that United are a publicly-listed company.