Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% purchase of Manchester United has cleared multiple thresholds, according to a Monday SEC filing.
The Premier League has approved the transaction that was announced in December; the transaction is still waiting on approval by the Football Association—the governing body of soccer in England.
The club’s Class A shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange ($MANU), and Ratcliffe intends to buy 25% of those through a tender offer. The tender offer deadline was pushed back from Feb. 14 to Feb. 17, but 36.7% of the shares have already been tendered, per the filing.
The process is moving forward toward completion, according to those close to the deal.
Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of chemical giant INEOS, is expected to spend $1.65 billion as part of the agreement, and the filing states his liquid assets were in excess of $4 billion as of Feb. 12. He is the richest person in the UK with a total net worth of $20.6 billion, according to Forbes. The agreement calls for him to be in charge of the team’s on-field operations.
Ratcliffe is buying 25% of the publicly traded stock at a $33 share price. The stock has largely traded between $19.50 and $21 since the agreement was reached in December, as shareholders will retain three-quarters of their shares after the deal is completed. Ratcliffe is also buying 25% of the Glazer family’s Class B shares.
Malcolm Glazer, who died in 2014, bought United via a leveraged buyout in 2005 for £790 million ($1.5 billion at the time) and later listed the club on the NYSE. The family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retained control of the team through a class of supervoting shares.
Manchester United currently sits in sixth place in the Premier League standings, 13 points back of Liverpool, who is at the top of the table.
