Manchester United stock gains as new investor preaches 'patience' to fans
Jim Ratcliffe paid a reported $1.5 billion for a 25% stake in the English Premier League club.
Shares of English football club Manchester United (MANU) - Get Free Report were rising sharply Tuesday after it was confirmed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be taking a 25% stake in the team and will invest $300 million in the club.
Shares of ManU jumped nearly 3% last check on the news as the team welcomed on a huge new investor to help the prestigious, blue blood club win its first Premier League title since 2013.
Related: Iconic sports franchise to be sold at a value worth $6.5 billion
Ratcliffe preached patience in his initial remarks to fans Tuesday.
"I believe we can bring sporting success on the pitch to complement the undoubted commercial success that the club has enjoyed," Ratcliffe said in a letter to the Manchester United Supporters Trust.
"It will require time and patience alongside rigor and the highest level of professional management... change can inevitably take time but we are in it for the long term and together we want to help take Manchester United back to where the club belongs, at the very top of English, European and World Football."
The Glazer family that owns a majority stake in the team sold a 25% stake to Ratcliffe for $1.5 billion earlier this month, according to reports that were officially confirmed in the past few days.
Ratcliffe is a British billionaire who is the CEO of INEOS chemicals group, which he founded in 1998. He is reportedly worth $23.3 billion.
Ratcliffe reportedly outbid Qatar's Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani, who had bid $6 billion for 100% ownership of the soccer club. 
The Glazer family, which also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, first acquired Manchester United in 2005, but started looking to sell at least a piece of the franchise in late 2022.
Sports team valuations have ballooned in recent years as the revenue sports leagues get from television deals have also grown.
The average Premier League club is worth $1.51 billion, according to Sportico, with ManU leading the pack with a $5.95 billion. Over the past two years, the club's value has increased nearly 30%.
Meanwhile in the States, the value of the average NFL team is $5.1 billion, the value of the average NBA team is $3.85 billion and the value of the average Major League Baseball team is $2.32 billion.
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