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Topics: Manchester United, Football, Premier League
Rory O'Callaghan
One of the most valuable companies in the world, Amazon, is being linked with a potential takeover of Manchester United.
Last month, United's owners - the Glazer family - announced their intention to "explore strategic alternatives" for the club "including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions".
It could mean the end of the Glazer's controversial 17-year ownership of the Premier League club, if a potential buyer is found.
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The Glazers are believed to be seeking between £6bn and £7bn for United, according to The Athletic.
Several parties have expressed an interest in buying the club, including Britain's richest man and lifelong United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe, as well as Zara owner Amancio Ortega.
Last month it emerged that American tech giants Apple had also signalled an interest in purchasing the club.
It has now been reported that Amazon also has a potential interest in purchasing United.
The company, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, is one of the most valuable in the world and had a market cap of $879bn (£717bn) in November, according to Bloomberg.
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The Athletic claim sources close to the sale discussions at United have cited Amazon, which currently holds broadcast rights for the Premier League after paying £30m-a-year to show games on Amazon Prime Video, as a potential buyer.
Raine Group, an investment banking firm, is acting as exclusive financial advisors to United's owners over a potential sale of the club.
Those talks are being led by Raine co-founder Joe Ravitch, who was previously involved in a prospective takeover of United back in 1999.
At the time, he was a banker at Goldman Sachs when UK broadcaster BSkyB attempted a takeover of the club.
Goldman Sachs was a joint corporate broker to BSkyB, which failed to buy United after its takeover attempt was blocked by the Department of Trade and Industry as anti-competitive following an investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
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The Athletic claim that those same regulations could jeopardise any attempt by media companies, such as Amazon or Apple, to buy United from the Glazers.
Amazon is yet to confirm if it is indeed interested in submitting a bid for United.
But in a statement to The Athletic, a spokesperson said: "Amazon declined to comment on rumour and speculation."
Meanwhile, the report also claims that the Glazers' asking price of between £6bn and £7bn has been deemed unrealistic by financial experts.
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Football Benchmark, a data and analytics platform described an offshoot of accounting firm KPMG, has valued United at around £2.425bn.
Andrea Sartori, Football Benchmark's founder and chief executive, wrote in a report: "The gap between the rumoured transaction price and the theoretical value of Manchester United FC appears enormous."