Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has reduced the asking price for French football club OGC Nice as he looks to streamline his Ineos sports portfolio.
Ratcliffe purchased the Ligue 1 side for €100 mln in 2019 but put the club up for sale last year. He was initially reported to be seeking around €250 mln, but the price has now been cut to below €200 mln, according to Bloomberg.
The British billionaire owns stakes in several sports assets, including Swiss club Lausanne and a minority holding in the Mercedes Formula One team. However, he has been scaling back his sports investments in recent years, withdrawing funding from Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team and ending sponsorship agreements with New Zealand Rugby and Tottenham Hotspur.
Efforts to sell Nice have been complicated by a financial crisis in French football following the collapse of key media rights deals, dampening interest from potential buyers. Ratcliffe hired Lazard to assist with the sale.
Nice’s ownership has also posed challenges since Ratcliffe acquired nearly 29% of Manchester United for £1.3 bn and assumed control of football operations. Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules forced structural changes to allow both clubs to compete in the Europa League last season, while transfer dealings between the two were temporarily restricted.
On the pitch, both clubs have struggled, with Manchester United finishing 15th last season and Nice currently placed 14th in Ligue 1.
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