Out of the frying pan, into the fire?

Manchester United are said to be on the verge of a £1.5bn takeover by Qatar Holdings, the investment arm of the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority. They are the  third largest shareholder in the auto conglomerate, Volkswagen Group and have also accumulated a huge range of trophy assets in ­England. These include the Harrods store and spectacular London properties such as One Hyde Park, the Shard of Glass and the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.

Qatar Holdings’ chairman, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, who is also Qatar’s prime minister, is said to be keen to add to their portfolio of ­investments and sees United as an iconic ­acquisition. The arrival of the Qatar billions would pave the way for the end of the controversial Glazer family reign.

Probability

Usually, I would dismiss this story as tabloid rubbish, but there are some factors that do lend it some credibility:

1) On the 22nd of November, Red Football Joint Venture Ltd (the parent company that issued the infamous Payment In Kind loans)  redeemed all £220m of the high-interest PIKs.  According to andersred’s excellent blog and other financial experts this was a sign of a company getting ready to sell.

2) On the 9th of December, Two of the Glazers’ UK holding companies; Red Football Joint Venture Ltd (the company which owed the PIKs) and Red Football Shareholder Ltd (its parent) filed documents with Companies House giving the companies the authority to issue new shares either to a third party or rights to subscribe for or buy new shares (themselves).

3) The Arab state of Qatar appear to be extremely focused on becoming recognized as a major name and force in football. Having won the rights to host the World Cup in 2022 earlier this month, the Qatar Foundation (the charity wing of the ruling ­family) then bought the sponsorship rights to the Barcelona shirt last week.

4) Qatar Holdings’ parent company has estimated assets more than £40.5bn! This means that the rumoured bid of £1.5bn would not be a problem for them and is the same figure they paid when Qatar Holdings bought over Harrod’s.

5) Owning Manchester United would propel Qatar’s reputation and would be a major platform for them to reach a large audience all over the world.

6) Qatar’s best-selling newspaper, The Gulf Times, have quoted a source as saying: “Qatar looks like trying for United, although no one is saying anything officially.”

As fans we need to ask ourselves if this is necessarily a good thing for Manchester United. Yes, the Glazers are mercilessly bleeding the club dry and are making the fans pay for the privilege of owning this glorious club, but have left Sir Alex completely in charge of footballing matters. I can only hope that the potential new owners display the same common sense, if this takeover does take place.

The recent ridiculous events at Blackburn Rovers is a stark reminder that not all business owners understand the intricacies of football.

In addition, I have enjoyed seeing Manchester City fail to win silverware despite having spent £350bn in the blink of an eye. No matter what criticism rival fans throw at Manchester United, the success this club has attained was never achieved with the help of a big sugar daddy like Chelsea and Man City have, but rather through the club’s own hard work both on and off the pitch.  The Glazers’ ownership has even shown this club’s and Fergie’s ability to succeed under difficult circumstances and it would be a bit of a shame if the club were to fall into the same trap of spending enormous amounts of money on big-name players rather than buying the right players that the team actually needs.

Finally, I let myself believe that the Red Knights would somehow be able to mount a worthy bid of the club and that they would eventually bring about some form of fan ownership, so a takeover by Qatar Holdings would definitely put an end to that dream.