MANCHESTER – After missing out on Chelsea last year, British businessman Martin Broughton knows how prospective buyers will feel ahead of the future Manchester United’s deadline for submissions expired on Friday.
The long nights spent crunching the numbers. Check and double check that funders are delivering on their promises.
Then the final offer was emailed to the New York office of Handelsbank Raine Group for approval.
“Right before you make the formal offer, go through the whole debate,” Broughton, who has no intention of making a bid for United, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “How much leeway do we allow ourselves? We have to be on the shortlist. At the same time, we don’t want to pay too much.”
Friday has been described as a soft deadline for initial offers before the process to determine United’s next owner picks up speed.
Broughton, a 75-year-old businessman, the former chairman of British Airways and English football club Liverpool, went through it all last year while leading a consortium trying to buy Chelsea, with Raine also handling that sale. He made the last three but eventually lost to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who paid $3 billion for the London club – a record for a football team.
United are estimated to have twice as much after the American-owned Glazer family announced it Ready to sell last November.
So far, Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire and owner of petrochemical giant INEOS, is the only one confirmed bidder. However, he is expected to face a challenge from Qatar while other prospects could become clearer after Friday.
“I don’t know how many offers there have been for Chelsea but there have been at least half a dozen serious offers and that leaves four or five people frustrated,” Broughton said.
One of them was Ratcliffe who, despite agreeing to Boehly and Clearlake’s offer, missed the deadline set by Raine and was not considered. He has not repeated that mistake at United and last month declared his intention to leave for the club he has supported since childhood.
“Jim wants it. He is willing to pay a fair price for it. I suspect he’s willing to come up with a big number,” Broughton said. “Personally, I would estimate he would be in the £4-5billion ($4.8-$6bn) level.
“In the Chelsea case, Jim made it clear from the start that he wasn’t interested in this price, it was too much. Not interested in discussion, joined forces with other potential bidders and then placed this very late bid.”
Broughton, a Chelsea supporter, framed his attempt to buy out then-owner Roman Abramovich on the premise of a bid by the fans for the fans. He sees some similarities in Ratcliffe’s United pursuits.
“We didn’t just see it as a financial transaction. We saw it more as an opportunity for more fan involvement. Jim’s a fan,” Broughton said, adding, “Somebody who’s a fan I think is preferable because they think about what the fans want.”
Broughton said he wouldn’t be surprised if only a “very small number” of buyers came forward for United, given the estimated price and further investment required to refurbish the club’s iconic Old Trafford stadium.
A Qatar-backed bid is expected, while it is unknown if a competing bid from the Middle East will also emerge.
Broughton sees Qatar as a serious threat to Ratcliffe if a bid goes through from the oil- and gas-rich country.
“You could feel (would do and say) a knockout price… We’ll give you 6 billion (pounds; $7.2 billion) as long as you sell it to us now and don’t go ahead with the auction. Take it or leave, something like that could easily settle it,” Broughton said.
Broughton wrote a memoir about his career called Whenever I Hear That Song. In it he tells of overseeing the sale of Liverpool to John Henry in 2010, as well as his attempts to buy Chelsea after Abramovich was forced to sell following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
While he has sounded out potential investors in Liverpool as Henry’s Fenway Sports Group is open to selling the Merseyside club, he has failed to pique interest. He hasn’t attempted to put together an offer for United and is focusing on his passions such as horse racing.
Proceeds from his book go to the charity Retraining of Racehorses.
Another passion is Chelsea and he has watched with interest Boehly and Clearlake have spent more than $660 million on transfers since buying the club for $2.5 billion in May.
That money hasn’t yielded success on the field so far, with Chelsea sitting mid-table in the Premier League and battling to stay in the Champions League after losing 1-0 in the first leg of the round of 16 to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Broughton said he regrets missing out on Chelsea “very badly” but was heartened by what he’d seen of the new owners.
“My main conclusion would be that he (Boehly) has shown the commitment that he intends to make this a success,” Broughton said. “If you compare that to the Glazers, for example, the Glazers were always like, ‘How can we make money on this?’
“He’s like, ‘I want this to be a success. I want people to see that owning Chelsea has been good for the club.’”
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