Boehly group agree Chelsea takeover deal
Chelsea have agreed a £4.25bn sale of the club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly.
In a statement, Chelsea said the new owners will pay £2.5bn to acquire the club’s shares and that the proceeds will go into a frozen bank account to be donated to charity.
Boehly, co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team, leads the consortium but Clearlake Capital, a Californian private equity firm, would own a majority of the shares in Chelsea.
Other investors include US billionaire Mark Walter, also a co-owner of the LA Dodgers, and Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss.
The group also includes British businessman Jonathan Goldstein and journalist Daniel Finkelstein.
The consortium says it will provide £1.75bn to invest in the club, including “investments in Stamford Bridge, the academy, the women’s team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation”.
Chelsea say the takeover is expected to be completed in late May. It will require approval from the Premier League and the UK government.
Chelsea was put up for sale before owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
Other consortiums who had been in the running to buy the club include one fronted by Sir Martin Broughton and one by the co-owner of the Boston Celtics, Stephen Pagliuca.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the majority shareholder of chemical group Ineos, made a late offer – several weeks beyond the initial deadline for bids of 18 March.
