Jim Ratcliffe bought 25% of Manchester United: Who is he and how many millions did he pay?

The founder, boss and majority partner of the Ineos business group, the British Jim Ratcliffe, closed an agreement to acquire 25% of the ownership of Manchester United, the emblematic English soccer club announced this Sunday.

The agreement provides for Ineos to have “the responsibility for the management” of matters related to football, although the sale to Ratcliffe (71 years old) of 25% means that the American Glazer family, at the head of United since 2005, continues to have the property control.

The Ineos boss, already involved in football as the owner of the French club Nice and the Swiss club Lausanne, spent 1.25 billion pounds [unos 1.585 millones de dólares] to enter the capital of Manchester United, the press asserted.

The club is currently eighth in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Arsenal, after the 2-0 defeat at West Ham on Saturday. It was an eighth setback in 18 rounds of the English championship.

In the Champions League, Manchester United was eliminated in the group stage as bottom of its bracket, which does not even allow it to be re-elected to play in the Europa League.

The agreement to acquire 25% was not the epilogue that Jim Ratcliffe dreamed of when he began negotiating the purchase, since he intended a complete acquisition.

Nor does it seem like the most exciting solution for an important sector of the fans, very critical of the American owners, whose management has caused the club to play a secondary role in English and European football in the last decade.

‘Red Devils’ fans have repeatedly reproached the Glazers for taking on a lot of debt when they acquired the club and then not making the necessary investments for the European champions in 1968, 1999 and 2008 to remain competitive. In the English league, their last title dates back to 2013.

In November 2022, the club’s owners announced a reflection on “all strategic alternatives, including a new investment in the club, a sale or other transactions involving society.”

In the last year, offers and rumors have been happening. Everything seemed to be a struggle between Ratcliffe, one of the greatest fortunes in the United Kingdom, and Sheikh Jassim Ben Hama Al Thani, president of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB).

The Glazer-Ratcliffe agreement includes an investment of 300 million dollars [272 millones de euros] for the renovation of the famous Old Trafford stadium. The Ineos manager had promised fans to improve his Carrington training center and attract players capable of returning Manchester United to the level of the best on the continent.

The truth is that Manchester United, a club of legends like Bobby Charlton, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, now lives in the shadow of its neighbor Manchester City, owned by the reigning family of the United Arab Emirates. But despite this, its status and attractiveness seem to be preserved in terms of turnover and social pull.

According to the press, the American owners, members of the Glazer family, were demanding 6 billion pounds [6.900 millones de euros o 7.610 millones de dólares] to get rid of the club in its entirety.

The club had been acquired by Malcolm Glazer, the father, in 2005 for £790m.

Ratcliffe and Ineos have multiplied their investments in sport in recent years, whether in football (Lausanne, Nice), cycling (Ineos Grenadiers, former Team Sky), Formula 1 (participation in the Mercedes team) or even in sailing (Ineos Britannia).