Sir Jim Ratcliffe gave Man United ultimatum they only just managed before completing minority purchase

Sir Jim Ratcliffe nearly pulled out of the deal to invest in Manchester United as one of his conditions was nearly missed.

The INEOS billionaire has bought a 25 per cent stake in Man United, a deal that has cost £1.25billion in total.

But it was nearly very different after filings reveal that Ratcliffe had warned Old Trafford chiefs that he was prepared to withdraw his offer if it was not accepted before Christmas.

In the end, it was announced on Christmas Eve that a deal had been clinched — just hours before Ratcliffe's imposed deadline.

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings released on Wednesday showed that Ratcliffe's company Trawlers Limited «gave Manchester United a deadline of December 25, 2023 to accept its best and final proposal».

It came after the initial offer came in February with the British billionaire wanting a controlling stake.

However, Ratcliffe agreed to slight concessions in conversations held between December 18 and 22 but «was not prepared to accept any of other changes proposed by the non-affiliated directors».

An informal meeting was held between the board of directors on December 22 over a 'robust discussion regarding the feedback from the offeror'.

There seemed to be cause for alarm as the board representatives noted that Ratcliffe «could decide to withdraw (the) proposal if the board of directors was not prepared to move forward by December 25, 2023».

An agreement was then reached two days later on December 24, finally drawing the curtain on a lengthy saga that began in June 2022.

That deal was announced on December 24 while Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, vowed to bring the good times back to the club.

He said: «I wanted to write to you at this time given the critical role of the fans to