Thomas Zilliacus has urged Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim to join forces with him
As British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani face off in the Manchester United takeover battle, Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus made his own surprise bid to purchase the famous club.
In a statement released Thursday, the founder of social media organization novaM Group said he submitted a bid Wednesday through XXI Century Capital, an investment firm owned by his holding company. The entrepreneur is touting a unique bid that he says will include fans in the ownership structure. The Mirror reports that Zilliacus’ bid has been dismissed as “unworkable” and not a serious proposal by the rival bidders.Sheikh Jassim’s bid is for full ownership of Manchester United, which it feels would be in the best interests of the club, the fans and the wider community. MarketWatch understands that the Sheikh’s Nine Two Foundation, which is handling his bid, has no interest in pairing up with other bidders.
Interested parties were set a Wednesday deadline to submit bids for the club, although The Guardian reports that this was “dramatically extended” at the last minute.Shares of operator Manchester United Ltd. MANU fell 1.1% Friday. The stock has risen 0.7% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500 Index’s SPX 2.7% gain.
“I am not as wealthy as they are, but I am wealthy enough to be able to table a serious bid for this,” Zilliacus told MarketWatch. “I really hope that for the sake of the club and the fans that we can find this common ground with the other contenders.”Zilliacus is the former chairman of Finnish soccer club HJK and former co-owner of hockey team Jockerit.
The Glazers have come under intense pressure to sell the iconic English football club amid ongoing fan frustration over what is seen as underperformance. The club, one of the biggest names in world soccer, last won the Premier League in 2013. In 2021, the Glazers faced major backlash from fans over planned involvement in the controversial European Super League.In November, they confirmed they were exploring potential financial investment or an outright sale of the storied Premier League club.
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