:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/GZDU4LSIP2IMBNFWNUF5DXJBUE.jpg "Ineos confirms Ratcliffe's offer to buy United 1")
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s company, Ineos, confirmed on Saturday that it has submitted an offer to buy Manchester United, pledging to make the Premier League side “again ‘number one team in the world’.
Ineos will compete with Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, who also submitted a bid on Friday to acquire the Glazer family team.
Ratcliffe, 70, is one of the richest Britons in the world with an estimated fortune of 12.5 billion pounds ($15 billion) due to the success of his petrochemicals business.
“We can confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have submitted an offer to acquire a majority stake in Manchester United Football Club,” the company said in a statement. “We are ambitious and very competitive and we want to invest in Manchester United so that they can be world number one again.”
Ineos was seen as an alternative to international ownership as the Qatari proposal came after the Saudis acquired Newcastle last year. Reigning league champions Manchester City have belonged to Abu Dhabi since 2008. Sheikh Jassim’s bid stressed that only his private wealth would be used unlike Paris Saint-Germain, who are government-funded.
“We also understand that football leadership in this country is at a crossroads,” Ineos said. “We would like to help lead this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by building the team into a model of modern, cutting-edge, fan-focused ownership. We want to anchor Manchester United in their proud history and roots in the North West of England, reclaim Manchester as Manchester United and have a clear focus on winning the Champions League.”
Last month, Radcliffe announced its intention to submit a bid. It represented a change of strategy from last year when he submitted a late bid for Chelsea but was not considered due to his late submission.
Ratcliffe, owner of Nice in France, said last year he had no interest in bidding for another Premier League club and had received little encouragement from the Glazer family to buy United. But he would be a popular pick with fans because of his support for the team.