Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirms he is in running to buy Manchester United

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One of Britain’s richest people, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has confirmed his company is in the running to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.

Ratcliffe had been coy about his ambitions to take over his boyhood club when the Glazers first indicated they would be willing to sell in November.

However Ratcliffe’s company Ineos said on Tuesday it had registered its interest with the merchant bank running the sale for the Glazer family, an announcement that makes it the first to do so publicly. “We have formally put ourselves into the process,” a spokesperson for Ineos, a petrochemicals and fracking company, told the Times.

Formal bids are expected to start next month, with interest from the United States, the Middle East and Asia also expected. At this stage, parties have to sign up to see confidential financial documents and commit to undertaking due diligence before a possible takeover.

The price tag is not expected to be cheap, with the Glazers looking for about ?5bn.