Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s $1.6bn (£1.25bn) stake in Manchester United (US:MANU) isn’t really about a return on capital. For a start, just $300mn (£240mn) of his investment is fresh equity. Then there’s the business of football, which is famously hard to profit from.
I’d argue his purchase is not just about sporting glory, either. Club ownership isn’t just about a slice of limelight, but a heady mix of soft power and free marketing. These are valuable intangible assets.
Nor is £1.25bn high stakes for Ratcliffe, considering his net worth – bound up in his chemicals group, Ineos – is more than 20 times higher. Put this all together and the ancillary benefits aren’t hard to spot. This billionaire wasn’t an unknown before. But as the British co-owner of England’s most decorated football club, his business interests suddenly take on a fresh urgency.