A consortium led by the former president of Guggenheim Partners, Todd Boehly, is going to start exclusive talks with Chelsea to close its purchase. But at the last minute, one of the UK’s richest men has launched a €5bn bid for the London soccer team.
The group led by Boehly outbid the rest of the offers, such as that of the British businessman Martin Broughton or that of the co-president of Bain Capital, Stephen Pagliuca, according to confidential sources from Bloomberg.
The sale of Chelsea has been one of the most controversial and politically sensitive deals in world sport, following sanctions imposed on the team for belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. And as if that were not enough, this Friday there was a last-minute twist when British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe put 4,250 million pounds (about 5,000 million euros) on the table for the club.
Ratcliffe chemical group Ineos said in a statement on Friday that the offer included a charitable contribution of 2.5 billion pounds – Abramovich wanted to use that amount to help victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and a commitment to invest 1,750 million pounds. million pounds at the club over the next 10 years.
Raine Group, the US firm that is managing the sale of the club on Abramovich’s behalf, spent weeks weighing offers from Boehly, Broughton and Pagliuca before settling on the former. The question now is whether Radcliffe’s offer has arrived on time, or whether the negotiations with Boehly are already signed.
Ratcliffe, who is worth nearly $11 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is no stranger to the world of soccer clubs. The Briton has already invested in French club Nice and Switzerland’s FC Lausanne-Sport.
One of the biggest purchases in history
With these figures on the table, the sale of Chelsea is on track to become one of the largest sports transactions in history. In total, up to 20 suitors have tried to take over the team, although most have been withdrawing throughout the month.
For Chelsea, its employees and supporters, the sale will bring much-needed certainty as the club has been unable to operate normally since the UK government froze Abramovich’s assets in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, the west London team has been under a series of restrictions that have prevented it from selling a percentage of Stanford Bridge tickets, opening the shirt and marketing shops or negotiating new player contracts. Chelsea operates under a special license from the UK government which expires on May 31. In an interview with the BBC this week, culture minister Nadine Dorries said the team is “playing in injury time” and said the sale should be finalized as soon as possible.
The five consortia leading the race to buy Chelsea
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