Sir Jim Ratcliffe has received Premier League directors and owners’ test approval for his 25 per cent purchase of Manchester United.
A deal will be completed within days as the Football Association signs off a final agreement after Ratcliffe extended his purchase offer until the end of this week.
United’s Class A shares rose more than six per cent to $21 (£16.57) in post-market trading after the tender offer deadline was extended to Friday from Tuesday.
Club filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overnight confirmed the league has privately approved the deal.
A Premier League statement confirming the decision is only expected once Ratcliffe completes, however, which is likely next week.
Filings confirmed there was no doubt as far as United’s shareholding set-up is concerned that the Ratcliffe deal will be done. By February 9, around 36.7 per cent of the outstanding Class A Shares had been “been validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) pursuant to the Offer,” the documents confirm.
Premier League approval for the deal is confirmed in the filing’s offer terms.
“Premier League Approval” has “already been obtained”, the document confirms, but the Football Association Approval is still awaited.
Ratcliffe, 71, has agreed to gain complete control of football operations as part of his deal for a minority shareholding but the Glazers have since agreed that Ineos should have a broader influence encompassing key decisions across the business.
Telegraph Sport detailed last week how plans include eventually creating a “Wembley of the North” under an ambitious 90,000-seater redevelopment of Old Trafford.
The Ratcliffe deal is now all-but-done after an extraordinary saga which saw the Glazers first start exploring a sale in Nov 2022.
A bump in share values overnight erased losses from earlier in the trading day on Monday amid speculation over whether the offer would be extended. In December, Ratcliffe agreed to buy the stake by allowing investors to swap about one-quarter of their Class A stock holdings for $33 per share, well above the current market price.
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