Chelsea Football Club has confirmed that the consortium led by Todd Boehly has agreed on terms to acquire the club from Roman Abramovich.
The Chelsea Football Club takeover saga seems to be finally over following more than two months of trying to find a suitable bidder by the American merchant bank, Raine Group that was placed in charge of the sale of the London club.
Earlier last week, there was news flying around that the Todd Boehly consortium had been selected by Raine Group as the preferred bidder for the West London football club seeing off competition from the other two consortiums.
The other two major bids came from former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton – backed by Lewis Hamilton and Lord Seb Coe – and the other by Boston Celtics and Atalanta part-owner Stephen Pagliuca.
An eleventh-hour extravagant £4.75billion bid understood to be the highest bid, was also made by Britain’s richest billionaire, Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The Todd Boehly Consortium has teamed up with investment firm, Clearlake Capital and billionaires Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss to acquire the West London football club for a bid worth around £4.25 billion, which satisfies £2.5 billion for the purchase price and £1.75 billion as a further investment for the benefit of the club.
What Chelsea FC is saying
The statement issued by the West London football club reads:
- “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the Club.
- “Of the total investment being made, £2.5bn will be applied to purchase the shares in the Club and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention to donate 100% to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich. UK Government approval will be required for the proceeds to be transferred from the frozen UK bank account.
- “In addition, the proposed new owners will commit £1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation.
- “The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time.”
However, they still face two more hurdles before they can officially take charge.
The agreement is subject to approval by the Premier League and the UK government. It is expected that the league will approve the takeover only after the owners and directors test likely to take a minimum of 10 further days to be completed.
The UK government would then be required to grant a new licence to allow the sale to go through. The takeover is expected to be complete by the end of May, as just over three weeks remain on the club’s current operating licence, which expires on May 31, according to TheSUN.
