Bidders for Manchester United Plc were on Wednesday preparing to launch improved offers for the football club ahead of a 9 p.m. deadline in London, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the battle for one of world sport’s biggest assets ramps up.
A Qatari consortium, led by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad J.J. Al Thani, is set to raise an initial debt-free offer from £4.5 billion ($5.5 billion), one of the people said. The Middle East bid group’s main rival is British billionaire and Manchester United fan Jim Ratcliffe, who’s also expected to improve on his first offer, which was less than £4.5 billion, the people said.
