Manchester United takeover: Finnish entrepreneur announces joint-ownership bid with fans

Wednesday’s
bid
deadline
was
extended
and
Zilliacus
became
the
third
bidder
to
publicly
declare
his
interest,
joining
Jim
Ratcliffe
and
Sheikh
Jassim
bin
Hamad
Al
Thani.

Zilliacus’ proposal
is
for
50
per
cent
of
the
club,
with
the
other
half
bought
by
fans,
who
would
become
part
of
the
club’s
decision-making
process.

“Any
sport
club
ultimately
should
belong
to
its
fans.
My
bid
is
built
on
equality
with
fans,”
he
said.

“The
current
development,
where
billionaire
sheikhs
and
oligarchs
take
over
clubs
and
control
them
as
their
personal
playgrounds
is
not
a
healthy
trend.

“The
current
market
value
of
the
club
is
just
under
$3.9billion
(£3.17billion).
That
means
that
if
every
one
of
the
fans
of
the
club
would
join
in
buying
the
club,
the
total
sum
per
fan
would
amount
to
less
than
$6
(£4.88).

“My
group
will
finance
half
of
the
sum
needed
to
take
over
the
club,
and
will
ask
the
fans,
through
a
new
company
that
is
being
set
up
for
this
specific
purpose,
to
participate
for
the
other
half.
If
every
fan
joins
it
means
less
than
$3
(£2.44)
per
fan.”

While
only
three
bidders
have
publicly
announced
their
offers,
it
has
been
reported
there
could
be
as
many
as
eight
proposals
submitted
for
the
Glazer
family’s
consideration.