Sir Jim Ratcliffe has injected a further £79million into Manchester United, increasing his stake in the club from 27.7 per cent to 28.94 per cent, according to reports. The Ineos kingpin has edged closer to thwarting the Glazer family as United’s majority owner by completing a welcome investment he pledged in February.
Ratcliffe paid around £1.2billion for his initial stake at the start of the year and promised to invest £237m of his own fortune as part of the preferred deal.
He instantly injected £158m, most of which was used to clear £120m of the club’s debt piled on by the Glazers since their controversial 2005 takeover.
According to Mail Sport, a filing listed on the US Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that Ratcliffe has now issued the final payment, simultaneously increasing his shares.
As part of the cash injection, all of Ratcliffe’s shares in United have been transferred from Trawlers Ltd – the entity that bought the stake from the Glazers – to INEOS at a value of $1,546,061,321 (£1,223,256,234.09).
The 72-year-old billionaire remains in control of the stake; the decision is merely to group his shares in United with Ineos’ various other sports assets.
It’s claimed that the fresh investment will be used across the club, following an initial plan to focus on infrastructure.
However, the report adds that the £79m doesn’t represent a transfer war chest for new head coach Ruben Amorim, who is working on a tight budget due to Financial Fair Play restrictions.
United are walking on thin ice with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s regulations.
But Ratcliffe’s new chunk of cash will have club-wide benefits rather than exclusively nourishing Amorim’s squad.
The Failsworth-born tycoon wants to get finances in order at Old Trafford so that the new capital isn’t swallowed up by operating losses, which he is working tirelessly to improve.
Ratcliffe has made a series of eye-catching decisions in his 10 months as co-owner – some of them unpopular, including laying off 250 employees.
His relationship with supporters further soured through the decision to increase ticket prices to £66 per game midway through the season, removing concessions for children and pensioners.
Ratcliffe has joined the Glazers as the target of protests at recent matches, but he has publicly insisted that such moves are necessary to stop the rot in M16.
The dismissal of sporting director Dan Ashworth after just five months – the same time period he spent on gardening leave at Newcastle United – was the latest reminder of Ratcliffe’s ruthlessness.
However, he has been putting his hands in his pockets, something alien to United’s current majority ownership.
