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.
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Haryana: YouTuber allegedly murders husband with help of friend, dumps body in drain
Chandigarh, Apr 16 (PTI): A 28-year-old YouTuber allegedly murdered her husband with the help of a male friend, also a content creator, after he objected to their "intimacy" and her social media activities. The duo carried the body on a motorcycle and dumped it in a drain in Haryana's Bhiwani, where it was found three days later, police said on Wednesday.
"Both the accused -- Ravina and Suresh -- have been arrested and further investigations are on," the Station House Officer of Sadar Bhiwani, Inspector Narender, said.
The police said that they found CCTV footage where the two accused were seen riding a motorcycle purportedly carrying the body on a deserted road road late in the night.
The victim, identified as Praveen (32), was murdered on March 25 after he had an argument with his wife Ravina in Suresh's presence at their home. "Ravina used her dupatta to strangle Praveen and he was also hit on the head by the two accused," the SHO said.
The woman returned to her home after the two threw the body in a drain.
Concerned about Praveen's whereabouts, his family filed a complaint with the Bhiwani police on March 26.
A police official from Bhiwani said the couple got married eight years ago and have a six-year-old son.
It is claimed that arguments used to break out frequently between Ravina and Praveen, who objected to her posting videos on social media and devoting a lot of her time to such activities, the official said.
The police said during the past few months their marriage had become strained over Ravina's "intimacy" with Suresh, whom she met on Instagram nearly two years ago.
Ravina and Suresh, also a content creator and hailing from Hisar, made videos together.
SHO Narender said that the couple's son was sleeping at home at the time of the incident.
Ravina, who has over 34,000 followers on Instagram and over 5,000 on her YouTube channel, is a resident of a village in Rewari district and had married Praveen, who hails from a village in Bhiwani, in 2017.
Ravina's social media commitments also involved her going out of home frequently, the police said.
Praveen was working as a driver and a labourer at a sand and gravel shop in Bhiwani, the police said.
The police claimed that during interrogation the accused woman confessed to committing the crime with her friend.
