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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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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Paris Saint-GermainPSG26178162233959
2Brest26138536201647
3MonacoMonaco26137647361146
4Lille261110537231443
5Nice2612772720743
6Lens2612683527842
7Marseille26109740281239
8Rennes2610974031939
9Reims26115103435-138
10Lyon26104123040-1034
11Toulouse2678112936-729
12StrasbourgStrasbourg2678112839-1129
13Le HavreLe Havre2669112633-727
14Montpellier HSCMontpellier2669113140-926
15Lorient2668123549-1426
16NantesNantes2674152441-1725
17Metz2665152339-1623
18Clermont2648141943-2420
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