Roman Abramovich’s hopes of a quick Chelsea sale appear unlikely with several factors complicating a swift handover of power, a legal expert has explained.
Speculation continues to swirl that the Russian billionaire, who on Saturday announced he would take a step back from his leadership duties and hand stewardship over to the club's Trust, could in fact look to sell his stake to prospective buyers.
The Russian oligarch bought the Blues in 2003, winning every trophy available under his stewardship, including five Premier League titles and two Champions League titles.
But his association with one of England's largest clubs has been scrutinised in the wake of compatriot Vladimir Putin 's invasion of Ukraine last week.
Abramovich has ties with the 69-year-old and European Parliament president Roberta Metsola declared he and his fellow oligarchs should not be able to "hide behind a veneer of respectability" by owning sports clubs and other foreign assets.
According to the Telegraph, Abramovich, 55, is looking for £4billion to sell the club, having already turned down offers worth more than £2bn in the past.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss is understood to be one of the parties in the mix to buy the Premier League giants and claimed the Chelsea owner is looking for a quick sale amid a panic over potential sanctions.
"Like all other oligarchs, he is also in a panic,” Wyss told Blick. "Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly.
"I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.”
Wyss added that Abramovich is currently asking for “far too much” with any potential suitors knowing they must compensate the owner.
And according to Stephen Taylor Heath, Head of Sports Law at JMW Solicitors, the complex ownership structure of the club, the stadium, the training ground and the hotel would make for a long investigative process, combined with the owners’ and directors’ test to be applied to prospective buyers, and finally the inherited debt situation - all add up to nothing like a quick sale.
“It is understood Abramovich does not own the club directly but rather controls the corporate entities that do,” Taylor Heath explained. “For a takeover, the first legal issue would be whether the sale was of the club as an asset of that company or the company itself. There may be shareholder agreements in place that could be relevant requiring the cooperation of third parties.
“It would bring into sharp focus the idea of stewardship of the club having been placed in the hands of the Trust if in fact the Trust and Abramovich were not on the same page with regard to the sale of the club to the prospective buyers.
“A sale would likely require consideration of the structure and what was being sold. The right to run the football operation may be in the hands of a different corporate entity, to say, the ground or hotel or training ground etc.”
He continued: “Any would-be buyer would need to undertake due diligence which would establish the ownership structure and any issues with the club. And so a very quick immediate sale would be very difficult in practice.
“Further, the prospective buyers would have to complete the Owners and Director test to show that they were fit and proper persons for owning/running the club.
“Clearly the substantial loans that have been reported would also be a key issue if the club was saddled with substantial debt that could be called in at any time on an ongoing basis.
“That would also bring into focus the leverage that the lender had in relation to the operation of the club as a result of that debt.”
Mirror Football have contacted Chelsea for comment, however the club is yet to reply.
