Sir Jim Ratcliffe is restructuring his bid to buy Manchester United in an attempt to end the ongoing takeover saga, a new report claims.
Ratcliffe and his petrochemicals company INEOS are among the leading contenders to take over at United, along with Sheikh Jassim and his Nine Two Foundation.
The British businessman, who is a boyhood United fan, wants to complete a majority takeover of the club, while Sheikh Jassim wants a full sale.
Advert
Ratcliffe does have experience in running a football club, with INEOS currently in control of Ligue 1 side Nice.
He expressed interest in taking over Chelsea prior to the club's sale to Todd Boehly's consortium, while INEOS also holds a one-third stake in the Mercedes F1 team.
His first official bid for United was in February, although progress in the takeover saga has been significantly drawn out. Sky Sports News reported earlier this month, however, that bidders are still interested and have not been told that the club has been taken off the market.
Advert
Now, a new report has made fresh claims about Ratcliffe's role in the takeover process.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe 'restructuring' Man Utd takeover bid
According to Bloomberg, those with knowledge of the matter have said that Ratcliffe is currently working with his advisors over his bid for United.
It is said that the talks are to 'address concerns about the terms of his bid from minority investors' in United.
Advert
It is added that Ratcliffe's initial offer to acquire 69 per cent of shares in the club 'left little benefit for holders of the club's remaining stock'.
Speaking at a media event in July, Ratcliffe spoke of his optimism about concluding a deal: "We have a good offer. We still would very much like to do it [complete the takeover], and I think we would do a good job if we did."
Representatives for Ratcliffe and Manchester United declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg.
The report comes just days after journalist Ben Jacobs claimed to GiveMeSport that Sheikh Jassim could make a fresh bid to buy the club, having already submitted five proposals.
Advert
Should either party take over United at the Glazers' reported asking price of £6 billion or higher, it would become the biggest sale of a sports club or franchise in history.
SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League
Ryan Smart