Qatar's PM denies fresh links to $2.4bn Man Utd deal

Qatar's Prime Minister has denied reports linking the Gulf state's investment arm with a $2.4bn bid for English champions Manchester United.Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, also executive chairman of Qatar Investment Authority, told Al Jazeera News Channel there was no truth in reports in UK media earlier this month. Permission was granted last week for United to launch a flotation on the Singapore Stock Market, allowing the club to open dialogue with potential investors. The move fuelled rumours suggesting that Qatar's Prime Minister was in London to negotiate a deal."That's not true," he said in an interview on the Qatar-owned TV channel. "We announced a few weeks ago that we did not negotiate that. A lot of people talk about 'Qatar now will buy this, they will pay that.' This also makes the price good for anything that will be sold."Manchester United was bought by the Glazer family in 2005. It’s not the first time the Premier League football club has been linked to the wealthy Gulf emirate. Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the state's sovereign wealth fund, was in June forced to deny it was in talks to buy the club, saying there had been “no relevant negotiations”. The football club wants to raise cash to help cut almost $500m in debt, a burden that has made the club’s American owners deeply unpopular with some fans. The club said total revenue increased to £331.4m, up £45m on the year incorporating a 27 percent rise in commercial revenue boosted by the club's £80m shirt sponsorship deal with Aon Corp. That helped it swing to a pretax profit of £29.7m, compared with a loss of £15m last year.