The Glazer family is set to pocket approximately £715 million following the completion of the deal with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, announced on the evening of December 24, as reported by The Telegraph. This will bring the Americans’ profits from their 18-year ownership of the club at Old Trafford to around £1.3 billion.
Over the years, they have already executed previous sales of smaller share packages, yielding them £465 million, and received dividends of approximately £150 million in the same currency. The six brothers and sisters from the American family own just over 110 million Class B shares, and the sale of 25% of them at the agreed price of $33 will result in a profit of around $909 million (£715 million).
The deal itself with British billionaire Ratcliffe will be valued at approximately £1.3 billion, but only £715 million of it will go into the accounts of the Americans for their Class B shares. The remainder will be allocated to Class A shares held by minority shareholders, who have fewer voting rights. The deal will be officially completed in a few weeks after receiving formal approval from the Premier League following certain tests. Afterward, Ratcliffe will take over the operational leadership of Manchester United, although he will be a minority shareholder compared to the entire Glazer family but not compared to each individual brother and sister.
The acquisition of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer in 2005 for about £800 million primarily occurred through loans, and subsequently, he transferred around £500 million to the club itself, making the “Red Devils” responsible for repaying the loans for their own acquisition by the American.