Manchester United shares rise amid reported Saudi buyout bid
Manchester (AP): Shares of Premier League club Manchester United rose sharply ahead of the deadline for takeover bids and reported interest from Saudi Arabia.
The stock closed at $26.84 on Thursday, up almost 10 per cent, on the New York Stock Exchange, with potential buyers expected to submit initial offers Friday to merchant bank Raine Group, which is handling the sale for United's current owners, the Glazer family.
With a bid also expected to come from Qatar, reports of a move from Saudi Arabia could heighten the possibility of the sale price reaching an estimated $6 billion.
Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS, is the only contender to publicly confirm his intention to bid, but there has been increased speculation about wider interest in recent days.
The Telegraph reported Thursday that groups in Saudi Arabia are interested in bidding.
Friday has been described as a soft deadline before the sale process gathers pace.
The Glazers, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, announced on Nov. 21 their intention to seek outside funding. Since then, United's share price has more than doubled from $13.08 on the day of the announcement.
Saudi interest has long been speculated and latest reports come on the back of an expected bid from another Middle Eastern country, Qatar.
There could also be interest from America after a host of U.S. bidders entered the race to buy Chelsea last year.
The Glazers have repeatedly resisted attempts from United fans to drive them out since buying the club in 2005.
The possibility of partial investment as well as a full sale have been explored.
It is not known if any potential buyer is prepared to go as high as the widely estimated price of $6 billion given the extra level of investment required to redevelop Old Trafford stadium.
Raine handled the sale of Chelsea, which was bought by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for $3 billion a record for a soccer team.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Top Cong leaders attend CWC meet, discuss further action against govt on G RAM G law
New Delhi (PTI): Top Congress leaders on Saturday are attending a crucial meeting of the working committee, the party's highest decision-making body.
They are deliberating on the current political situation in the country and the party's further action against the government after it replaced the UPA-era rural employment scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) with the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM G).
ALSO READ: Customs issues high alert as fraudsters pose as officials at Bengaluru airport
The extended meeting of the Congress Working Committee is being attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former party president Rahul Gandhi, besides chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
Presidents of Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC) are also present at the meeting.
The meeting comes ahead of next year's assembly polls in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and the leaders are expected to deliberate on the party strategy.
The opposition party is set to finalise its action plan to counter the government after it repealed the MGNREGA, 2005.
The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill that replaced the UPA-era MGNREGA was passed during the recently concluded winter session of Parliament. President Droupadi Murmu has already given her assent to it.
The Congress and other opposition parties have taken strong exception to the new law replacing MGNREGA, stating that it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi as his name has been removed from its title.
The new law makes a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
However, instead of being a Central scheme, the new law provides that the Centre and the states will have to share a 60:40 per cent ratio funding for the scheme.
आज कांग्रेस मुख्यालय इंदिरा भवन में कांग्रेस वर्किंग कमेटी (CWC) की बैठक हुई।
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2025
इस बैठक में कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge, CPP चेयरपर्सन श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी और नेता विपक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi समेत वर्किंग कमेटी के सदस्य मौजूद रहे।
📍 दिल्ली pic.twitter.com/59tNp0qawD
संविधान विरोधी BJP pic.twitter.com/YA2kBGIW1E
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2025
