American businessman Todd Boehly was lead bidder to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich
(Picture: Evening Standard comp)The battle for the Bridge is down to two. Well… kind of. When it comes to the sale of Chelsea, it feels like nothing is off the table. American businessman Todd Boehly has entered a five-day exclusive negotiation period to buy out Roman Abramovich after beating off competition from some of the richest people in the world.
It has been an expensive process — and that is before the outlay of around £4 billion is taken into account. Boehly is backed by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, British developer Jonathan Goldstein and has major funding from investment firm Clearlake Capital. US merchant bank, Raine Group, has been appointed by Abramovich to conduct the sale — and they have been thorough in their duties. Would-be buyers have been put through a series of rounds to test the strength of their bids.
Plans for Stamford Bridge were scrutinised and meetings held with supporters as well as club executives to determine their commitment to the heritage of the club. Where was the money coming from — and how much were they prepared to pay? Goalposts were shifted repeatedly. Meanwhile, enormous sums of cash have been spent just to get prospective buyers into the race, with swathes of rooms booked up at London’s most exclusive hotels and frequent flights required to jet in and out for talks. But for Boehly — a part-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team, who tried and failed to buy Chelsea in 2018 — it will have all felt worth it when word came through last Friday that he was now in sole contention to take control at Stamford Bridge. Or, at least it should have.
Enter Sir Jim Ratcliffe — one of Britain’s richest men and owner of Ineos, the fourth largest chemical company in the world. To say his last-minute offer of £4.25 billion came as a surprise to the other contenders is an understatement. That it came on the same day Raine planned to announce who would be presented to the Treasury as the preferred bidder, only added to the drama. The feeling among other bidders is that the offer would never have been made without encouragement. What Ratcliffe gives Chelsea is a ready-made alternative if there are any late hitches with Boehly. He also gives them the opportunity to drive a harder bargain, with his money ready and waiting to go.
But it adds more uncertainty, with the clock ticking on the May 31 deadline when the Government want the sale to be completed. Boehly, for his part, is getting on with the job. Background checks are already believed to have been carried out by the Premier League to enable the sale to be completed within days of final agreement.
But Ratcliffe is not talking like a man who believes his race is run. On the contrary, he is doubling down on his efforts to disrupt the process — promising to redevelop Stamford Bridge and commit £1.75 billion to the club over the next 10 years. Crucially — he says — the club would be back in British ownership. Just yesterday Ineos director Tom Crotty admitted Raine had dismissed the bid, but Ratcliffe is not taking no for an answer. “We’ve been rejected out of hand by Raine,” Crotty told Bloomberg. “But we will keep reminding people we are still here.”
Ratcliffe, meanwhile, told the BBC he had held positive talks with the Government. “My message to Raine is don’t discount our offer,” he said. “We are British and have great intentions for Chelsea. If I was Raine I wouldn’t close any door.”
The public nature of his bid also underlined his belief he could be the next owner of Chelsea. Boehly has also proven himself to be determined to see this deal through and has met every challenge put in front of him during this process. That has included a commitment of an extra £1 billion on player recruitment, stadium improvements and development of the club at large. It also included assurances that Chelsea would not be put up for sale for at least 10 years. Last week came the request for bidders to add a further £500 million, which was greeted with surprise in some quarters. Yet Boehly is now the man in pole position.
The Government are fearful the Abramovich will renege on his promise to write off £1.5 billion of debt
So often have fresh stipulations been introduced that there has been a concern Abramovich could yet scupper any deal. Just this week the Government grew fearful the oligarch would renege on his promise to write off £1.5 billion of debt, placing the sale in jeopardy. Through all of this Boehly has ploughed on. It has been a four-year mission for the businessman, who studied at the London School of Economics.
He makes no secret of his approach to sports ownership — treating it as any other investment, with broadcasting rights of particular appeal. The Premier League’s global popularity makes Chelsea a natural choice. But the Dodgers have also enjoyed major success under him — winning the World Series and signing some of the best players in the sport. At Chelsea, he plans to rebuild the stadium on a stand-by-stand basis. He wants to use data as a key component to recruitment, in the manner that has proved so successful for Liverpool.
Of all the bidders, he is the one to most capture the imagination of Chelsea fans, who were so voluble in their opposition to fellow Americans, the Ricketts family. It is possible Ratcliffe could have garnered similar support — but his late involvement has tested fans emotionally. After such a turbulent period in this club’s history, they believed the process was finally nearing conclusion. Ratcliffe had other plans — but is it too late, even for him?
