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Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe offers to buy Ligue 1 club Nice

:Headline: Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe offers to buy Ligue 1 club Nice: ID:355388: from db_amp
The businessman bought cycling's Team Sky last month.

Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to add French football club Nice to his growing sports portfolio, a spokesperson for his petrochemicals company INEOS has confirmed.

The 66-year-old businessman bought Swiss football team Lausanne in 2017, invested £110million in a British challenge for the America's Cup with Sir Ben Ainslie last year and then last month bought cycling's Team Sky to rebrand them as Team Ineos.

Ratcliffe, worth £21billion, is not finished there, though, as he is understood to have made a bid for the Ligue 1 side in February.

That offer, believed to be £77million, was rebuffed by Nice's owner Chien Lee, the Chinese-American investor who also owns League One's Barnsley.

But, according to a report by local newspaper Nice-Matin, Ratcliffe is not giving up and sent his brother Robert Ratcliffe to the south of France on Thursday to discuss his plans for the club with the city's mayor Christian Estrosi.

In a statement issued to Press Association Sport, an Ineos spokesperson said: "Ineos confirms that it has expressed an interest in the club and has had exploratory discussions but can say nothing more at this stage."

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira is now the coach at Nice (David Davies, PA)

Managed by former Arsenal and Manchester City star Patrick Vieira, Nice are currently eighth in Ligue 1, the same position they finished last season, but they came third in 2016/17 and Lee believes they are worth closer to £100million.

Ratcliffe, who was knighted in 2018, is understood to have first approached the club in November, shortly after he moved to nearby Monaco for tax-related reasons.

He is actually a Manchester United fan but has been linked with a bid for Chelsea, where he has had a season ticket.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Paris Saint-GermainPSG12102036102632
2MonacoMonaco1282221101126
3Marseille1272327161123
4Lille126421911822
5Nice1255223121120
6Lyon125431916319
7Auxerre126152119219
8Reims125342016418
9Lens124531312117
10Toulouse124351314-115
11StrasbourgStrasbourg123452124-313
12Brest124171622-613
13Saint-EtienneSt Etienne124171125-1413
14Le HavreLe Havre124081023-1312
15Rennes123271319-611
16NantesNantes122461419-510
17Angers122461321-810
18Montpellier HSCMontpellier122191132-217
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