Manchester United supporters have longed for the departure of the Glazers, and the day may soon be upon us.
The primary shareholders announced last November that the club was up for sale and United have opened its doors for potential buyers to make their approach. Interest has surfaced from Qatar and Englishman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and both have made opening bids.
The deadline for bidders to make their next proposal is fast approaching, with the process speeding up. As you might have guessed, the Glazers will not be doing much of the dirty work themselves and have entrusted the Raine Group with facilitating the sale of United.
So, who are the Raine Group?
The Raine Group is a New York-based investment banking firm that’s been tasked with brokering the sale of Man Utd.
They have been described as the “exclusive financial advisor” of the Glazer family and were Roman Abramovich’s banker of choice for his sale of Chelsea to Todd Boehly in 2022.
The firm is tightly connected with sports – they also hold advisory roles at Inter Miami and Girona – as well as gaming. They are associated with SYBO and Epic Games, who helped develop Subway Surfers and Fortnite respectively.
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The group was founded in 2009 by Joe Ravitch, a partner at Goldman Sachs, Jeff Sine, a veteran of UBS and Morgan Stanley, Brandon Gartner, a lawyer turned banker for hedge fund Serengeti, John Slater, UBS’ head of digital media, and Deborah Mei, a former Morgan Stanley managing director.
The aforementioned names remain the most prominent in the firm.
According to their website, approximately 129 people make up their team across nine locations. While New York-based, the firm also has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Regarding the takeover of United, Colin Neville (who isn’t loosely related to Gary or Phil) is leading the process for the bank and was pictured with the Qatari delegation amid negotiations. Neville also played a leading role in the sale of Chelsea.
Raine says it manages “strategies across growth equity, venture capital and public markets, with current assets under management in excess of $4bn.”
The net worth of co-founder Jeff Sine, meanwhile, is estimated to be $20m, with the likes of Ravitch, Gartner, Slater, and Mei boasting similar wealth.
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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette discuss why Harry Kane would be a better signing for Man Utd than Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen.
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