Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have to sell 25% of his shares in MU, if the Glazer family – the club’s owner – decides to sell the Red Devils to another party in the next 18 months.
According to The Times, new documents show that there are clauses detailing the rules surrounding the future sale of MU.

Specifically, a separate filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that the Glazer family was not allowed to solicit, or even encourage, any new offers during the first year, after Ratcliffe formalized the purchase of 25% of the club on February 13, unless they had written consent from Ratcliffe’s company Trawler Ltd.

However, once 18 months have passed from Ratcliffe’s share purchase, the Glazers could sell all of MU outright, which would force Ratcliffe’s company Trawlers Ltd to sell all of its shares to anyone. Any potential new buyers?

In MU’s share repurchase document, there is a provision on “carrying rights” with the Glazer family stating: “As long as the Glazer family’s party is still the majority holder of the shares, they can request the Trawlers party to sell completely.” of the common shares of MU, and take such other actions as are reasonably necessary to effect a complete sale, from the day after the 18-month period has elapsed.

This also ensures that Ratcliffe is certain to receive an amount equal to “the highest amount paid to any other shareholder of the same class of shares”. The document states: “If the sale takes place within 3 years from the date of completion of the offering, the Trawlers party must receive at least 33 USD/share, equal to the offering price.”

Still related to Ratcliffe, the British press recently said that MU had to pay commercial bank Raine Group a sum of 31.5 million USD to help create favorable conditions for the British billionaire to buy back 25% of the shares. of the Club.

Raine Group met with MU in June 2022 – 5 months before the Glazers announced their strategic review and was tasked with providing financial advice to the team during this process. A filing with the SEC revealed that MU chose Raine Group because they are “an internationally recognized investment bank with extensive experience in transactions” and “are familiar with our company and the markets in which we operate”.

In addition to the $31.5 million, MU also agreed to reimburse Raine Group for expenses, including “reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of Raine’s outside counsel, and indemnify them and others for various liabilities, including certain liabilities under the federal securities laws.”

All costs related to paying Raine will be paid by MU, not the Glazer family. The same thing could happen to the 56 lawyers hired by the club to carry out this deal.