Chelsea’s takeover has officially been completed to bring an end to Roman Abramovich‘s 19-year reign as owner of the Premier League club.
It was confirmed last week that a final agreement had been reached to sell the club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, and the transaction has now been completed ahead of the deadline of May 31 set by the Government.
In a statement released soon after the process was finally brought to an end, Boehly reiterated his commitment to the Chelsea fans and vowed to invest at all levels of the club.
“We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club,” Boehly said.
“We’re all in – 100% – every minute of every match. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud. Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success.
“I personally want to thank ministers and officials in the British government, and the Premier League, for all their work in making this happen.”
Abramovich’s time as owner is now over, almost three months after he announced his intention to sell the club. A week after that decision, he was sanctioned by the UK Government in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Boehly’s group reached an agreement to buy the club for £4.25 billion, with Abramovich unable to receive any money from the sale as a result of the sanctions in place. The deal will result in £2.5 billion being used to purchase the shares in the club, deposited into a frozen bank account with the intention of being donated to charity. The remaining £1.75 billion is a commitment to future investment, including in the stadium.
Chelsea confirmed the process had been completed on Monday afternoon.
The statement read: “Roman Abramovich has completed the sale of Chelsea Football Club and related companies to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
“This sale process commenced on 2 March, when Mr. Abramovich announced his intention to sell the Club after 19 successful years of ownership. In selling the Club, Mr. Abramovich stipulated that the new owner must be a good steward of the Club, the net proceeds of the sale must be donated to charity, and that he would not seek the repayment of loans made to affiliates of the Club.
Abrahmovich released a statement over the weekend confirming his intention to establish a new charitable foundation, but there was no mention of funds going to “all victims of the war in Ukraine” as he stated in March.
Chelsea revealed they received over 250 enquiries during the takeover process, of which more than 100 led to “detailed discussions” and 32 resulted in confidentiality agreements. This was then narrowed down to 12 credible bids, before Boehly’s consortium was selected as the preferred bidder.
Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes were both given praise by the club for how they naivgated the men’s and women’s teams through an uncertain period.
The takeover has been on brink of completion for a number of days, after it was formally signed off by the UK government last week.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted: “Very pleased Chelsea is under new ownership, securing the future of the club.
“Sanctioning Roman Abramovich for his links to Putin was right and necessary, but it did create profound uncertainty for the club. We have worked tirelessly to ensure Chelsea FC could survive.
“A sale was the only way the club could continue after this season. Sale proceeds will be frozen and can only be used with Govt approval. We will engage closely on the establishment of a foundation (with the right assurances), to support humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.”
