Sir Jim Ratcliffe has joked he is ‘not sure’ his Manchester United takeover rival Sheikh Jassim even exists, after sealing a minority stake in the club.
The Inoes billionaire saw his purcahse of a 27.7 per cent stake in the Old Trafford club confirmed on Tuesday.
Ratcliffe defeated Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim, who wanted to stage a full takeover of the club.
‘Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually,’ he said. ‘The Glazers never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!’
Sheikh Jassim withdrew from the race to buy Manchester United last October.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed his minority purchase of a stake into Manchester United
Ratcliffe has joked he is not sure that his takeover rival Sheikh Jassim even exists
The Qatari businessman had submitted an offer thought to be around £5.5bn to take full ownership of the club.
Sheikh Jassim withdrew from the process with his offer falling short of the £6bn figure the Glazer family were thought to want to sell the club.
He pulled the plug after nine months of the saga, after seeing his offer rejected.
The Qatari believed he would have been the ‘dream owner’ according to those with knowledge of the situation, and was reportedly saddened by how the situation played out.
Sheikh Jassim, the son of ex-PM Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, did not attend face to face talks with the club last March.
The chair of the Qatar Islamic Bank was instead represented by a delegation when the club’s suitors were given presentations outlining Man United’s scouting network, transfer strategy and first team operations.
