November 10 – Three investment groups have emerged as potential buyers for Al-Ittihad, with the Glazer family and American sports investor Josh Harris among the names surrounding the Saudi Pro League club as the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) pushes ahead with its football privatization programme.
Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadiyah reports that the first consortium combines Manchester United’s Glazer family with Saudi businessman Wael Jamjoom, while a second brings together Prince Saad bin Abdullah and Harris.
The third groups Sidra Capital and BlueFive Capital, with Abdulrahman and Sultan bin Mahfouz also linked to the candidacy. This group is reported to have submitted the strongest financial offer and is currently at the forefront of the process.
This is not the same as a deal being done, as PIF have not announced a preferred bidder and Saudi reports suggest the process could drag on until 2027 while funding, existing liabilities and bidders’ ability to run the club are examined.
Okaz reported last week that discussions had moved on to a detailed financial and administrative review, with completion likely to wait until the end of next year. However, the names involved lend some weight to the proceedings.
The Glazers remain the controlling shareholders of Manchester United, while Harris is managing partner of the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, and maintains a significant interest in Crystal Palace.
Sidra and BlueFive, meanwhile, already have close ties. BlueFive completed the purchase of a substantial stake in the Jeddah-based asset manager earlier this year, creating a combined Shariah-compliant investment platform that manages billions of dollars.
Al-Ittihad is one of four Saudi giants transferred to PIF control in 2023 along with Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli. The PIF initially held 75% of each club company, with the remaining 25% sitting with non-profit foundations.
This structure changed again in August when the Ministry of Sport began to transfer these minority stakes to the PIF, as part of the next stage of preparing the clubs for private investment.
Al-Hilal has already given a glimpse of what that exit route might look like, after Kingdom Holding completed the acquisition of 70 percent of the Riyadh club in September for SAR 840 million ($224 million), a deal that valued Al-Hilal’s equity at SAR 1.2 billion and left PIF with the remaining 30 percent.
Now it looks like Al-Ittihad will provide the next big test of that model.
The Jeddah club has one of the strongest brands and biggest followings in Saudi football, but any sale will also need to work with its existing obligations and future funding structure.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at harry.ewing@insideworldfootball.com