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So little is known about Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari bank manager who lodged a £4billion bid to buy Manchester United on Friday night, that even spokespeople working for him don’t know his age, whether he is married or how he made a supposed fortune measured billions.
Sheikh Jassim is now seen as the clear favourite to succeed in buying United from the Glazer family. While his initial bid is about £2bn less than the Glazers’ target selling price, access to money should not be a problem. He also has ‘significant’ extra cash to spend on players and modernising Old Trafford and the United’s training facilities, sources close to him insist.
Plenty is known about Jassim’s father, a colourful and sometimes controversial figure who owns swathes of property in some of London’s richest districts and gave £2.6m in cash to King Charles across several face-to-face meetings, including one in 2015 at Clarence House. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, nicknamed HBJ, was the prime minister of Qatar between 2007 and 2013. The cash given to the then heir to the British throne was delivered in a variety of suitcases, a holdall and in Fortnum & Mason carrier bags.
There was nothing illegal in the handovers and the money ended up going to charity, lodged with Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF). Sheikh Hamad has long-standing ties to Britain, trained as a cadet at Sandhurst (as did Jassim), and is fabulously wealthy.
He was nicknamed ‘the man who bought London’ and was formerly the head of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund (called QIA). Qatar spent massive sums buying property from The Shard and Harrods to the InterContinental London Park Lane and the London 2012 Olympic village. By 2013, it was estimated that QIA had invested more than £20bn in the UK.
HBJ’s supposedly United-crazy son Sheikh Jassim is one of 15 kids he has had with his two wives. Jassim was born in 1982 and is 40 or 41 (his spokespeople didn’t know when asked on Saturday), is apparently a long-time United fan and has been ‘passionate’ about the club since he was 10 years old. That is the public claim, at least.
Those speaking on his behalf to this newspaper on Saturday conceded they had never actually met him, don’t know whether he is married or has children, and can’t say why he started supporting United in 1992, at a point when they hadn’t won a league title in 25 years.
It is possible that as a 10-year-old he realised Alex Ferguson was on the brink of turning United into a dominant force over the next two decades and jumped aboard their global fanbase. Those speaking for him could not say how many times he had been to Old Trafford but insist he is a ‘genuine’ United fan who has been in person to ‘many’ United matches over the years.
‘He was encouraged to make a bid for Chelsea when they came up for sale last year,’ said a source. ‘But he had no interest in buying because it’s United he supports.’
Sheikh Jassim’s bid, if successful, will purchase United via an investment vehicle called the Nine Two Foundation, an entity that doesn’t yet exist in any meaningful form, and so-named as a nod to the year he started supporting the club. His spokespeople insist he will buy the club with cash, clear all debt, and invest heavily in all areas of the club.
That foundation has no connection to the Class of 92, the company headed by Gary Neville, and which includes David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville as investors. Even though Beckham was an ambassador for Qatar at the recent World Cup, he is understood not to have been approached yet for any role in the club, nor has Neville.
The size of Jassim’s personal fortune is unknown, as is the source of it. What is known about his career is he had graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst by 2005, when, aged 23, he was appointed as chairman of QIB, one of Qatar’s leading banks. He has also been a board member at several Credit Suisse entities. QIA owns a stake in Credit Suisse.
In reality, it’s not relevant how much we know about him. Without doubt he has access to the apparatus of the Qatari state and its untold riches. This is a nation, after all, that spent the thick end of $200bn to upgrade their infrastructure to stage the 2022 World Cup.
It is no coincidence that QIA is the largest shareholder of the QIB bank that Jassim runs, or that QIA’s subsidiary QSI was the vehicle that bought Paris Saint-Germain in 2011. There are only 330,000 Qatari citizens in Qatar, or as many people as live in Leicester, and the ruling elite and royal family of which Jassim and his father are part are mind-bogglingly rich. The QIA has more than $450bn of assets.
It would be easy to conclude that Jassim’s bid is a state project funded ultimately by QIA, and that even if money is pumped into United via a bank account with his name on it, it didn’t ultimately come from his own self-generated income. ‘It’s entirely understandable that many people might look at this and see it that way,’ a spokesperson told the MoS yesterday.
It would be convenient, the MoS suggested, that doing the deal in his name would help get over any hurdles of QIA owning two clubs (PSG and United), which might lead to UEFA stopping the deal. Again the spokesperson said they understood some might think that. ‘But this is Sheikh Jassim acting in a personal capacity,’ they said. ‘And there is no connection between his bid and QIA or QSI.
Lucky that, as the biggest theoretical obstacle would be the UEFA rule protecting the integrity of the Champions and Europa Leagues, which states that ‘no club participating in UEFA club competitions may….hold or deal securities or shares in any other club participating’ or ‘be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating.’
Sheikh Jassim’s assertion of his independence from QIA may be greeted with derision in some quarters but it’s not as though Qatar will be sweating on draconian legislation banning the move. If clubs such as Bayern Munich wanted to complain, their first port of call would be the European Clubs’ Association, which is chaired by Nasser Al-Khelifa, president of PSG, chairman of Qatar Sports Investment and a member of QIA and UEFA’s executive committee.
In addition, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body, which regulates competitions, is likely to rule the dual ownership is legitimate if an illusion of separation between United and PSG is maintained, in that they will have separate management and distinct corporate structures, which do not collude. UEFA has already provided a precedent of sorts in allowing both RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg to compete in the Champions League, with both clubs funded by soft drinks firm Red Bull.
In an 11-page judgment explaining their reasons, the CFCB adjudicatory chamber said their permission hinged on the phrase ‘decisive influence’ and that the authorities merely needed comfortable satisfaction’ that such influence was not being applied.
The two Red Bull clubs demonstrated that this by removing certain executives with dual roles and giving undertakings that the clubs would not co-operate.
Sheikh Jassim has talked about the need to redevelop Old Trafford, by which he doesn’t just mean the stadium. It seems likely that both Manchester City Council and the UK government will push for a regeneration project, similar to the one driven by Abu Dhabi around Manchester City’s ground and the Eastlands.
Lord O’Neill, who launched the Red Knights bid to buy United in 2010, is vice chair of the Northern Powerhouse, which was set up by the Conservative Government to encourage investment in the north. While he has no involvement in this bid and has not been approached, there are obvious synergies for Qatar in teaming up with such enterprises, regenerating the land around Old Trafford and investing in Stretford, to the west of the stadium where sports and health facilities would be a boost to the neighbourhood. The political momentum behind such a bid will be irresistible.
Ironically, in the week that the Government launches a football regulator to take back control of the game, it is on verge of seeing the Middle Eastern states of Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia seize the commanding heights of the Premier League. The Government has always argued that a regulator wouldn’t be about curtailing investment, saying: ‘We do not believe the regulator should get involved in issues of the government’s foreign policy.’ Which means a green light for Qatar.
Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi spent much of the last few years engaged in a trade blockade of Qatar, which included attempts to undermine their businesses. A recent rapprochement had eased tensions but it now seems that the Premier League will be the next staging point for regional rivalries.
Who is really behind the Qatari bid?
When Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani was revealed as the man behind the £4.5billion Qatari bid for Manchester United, it was widely assumed that the banker was chosen because of his supposed independence from the ruling regime, writes Robert Dineen.
With UEFA banning any individual or entity from owning more than one club in the same competition, a state-backed Qatari offer for United would have risked conflict with the Gulf state’s involvement in Paris Saint-Germain.
However, it does not take much digging to find links between the French club’s ownership and Al Thani, the chair of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB).
PSG is owned by the Qatar Sports Authority (QSA), with its chair Nasser Al-Khelaifi the club’s president.
QSA is owned by the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s £374billion sovereign wealth fund. QIA is also QIB’s largest shareholder, with 17.7 percent of the stock.
As it happens, Al Thani’s father Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, Qatar’s former prime minister, is also the former chair of QIA.
Who has bid?
A Qatari bid worth £4.5billion was lodged by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chair of the Qatari Islamic Bank. Its largest shareholder is the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, submitted a bid said to be worth £4billion. It was reported yesterday that the American hedge fund giant Elliott, run by Paul Singer, also lodged a last-minute proposal.
What happens next?
The bids submitted by Friday evening’s deadline are understood to be only indicative of what each interested party is willing to pay for the club. In the next stage, they will be given access to the key details around the club’s finances, ahead of potentially submitting a formal bid. The Raine Group bank, which is managing the sale for the Glazers, will evaluate those bids in terms of price, credibility and funding, before moving to the next stage and then preferred bidder status.
Will every bid be revealed?
The club is not expected to confirm the number of bids nor their value, partly because the New York Stock Exchange rules do not require it. This means any fresh bid is likely to be revealed only if those behind it choose to show their hand.
How much ARE United REALLY worth?
The club was valued at £3.6million by the close of business on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, with the share value having leapt from £19.77 to £22.12 over 24 hours.
However, their most recent financial statement revealed that the club has a net debt of £514.9million.
The Old Trafford stadium is in need of major refurbishment, too, at an estimated cost of £1billion.
What price will the Glazers hold out for?
The Glazer family that owns the club are said to be demanding £6billion, although £5billion is thought to be more realistic. Joel and Avram Glazer are said to be less keen on a sale than their three siblings. This could lead to them holding out for a higher price.
Robert Dineen
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