(Reuters) – Manchester United’s shares jumped nearly 20% in premarket trading on Tuesday after a report hinted that Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani was likely to succeed with his takeover bid for the English football club.
Qatar’s Al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday evening that Sheikh Jassim, son of a former prime minister of the country, was poised to be announced as the preferred bidder of the Premier League soccer club, CNBC said.
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Reuters could not immediately verify the Qatari media report, nor did Manchester United respond to a Reuters request for comment.
UK’s Daily Mail said last week that Sheikh Jassim had made a “fifth and final” offer of more than 5 billion pounds ($6.28 billion) after British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS reportedly outbid him in April.
New York-listed shares of Manchester United have slumped nearly 14% this year.
The latest “deadline” to finalize Sheikh Jassim’s offer ended on Friday, but no official announcements were made.
The current owners, the American Glazer family, are reportedly seeking 6 billion pounds ($7.5 billion), which would be a world record for any sports club or franchise, but neither bid is that high.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Aditya Soni; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
By: OAN
