Uncertainty surrounding the Chelsea football club seems to finally be over as Todd Boehly led consortium has agreed on a deal to take over the club from the previous owner Roman Abramovich.
Todd Boehly is the part-owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and was backed by Clearlake Capital over the acquisition of the English Premier League team.
The Stamford Bridge-based outfit confirmed that a 4.25 billion pound ($5.2 billion) deal for the reigning European champions had been agreed, in a statement issued in the early hours of Saturday, pending the required approvals.
“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter, and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the club,” the statement said.
“The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time.”
The new owners are expected to pay 2.5 billion pounds to purchase shares while committing a further 1.75 billion pounds to invest in the stadium, the women’s team, the academy, and the Chelsea Foundation.
The statement also confirmed that all proceeds would be placed in a frozen UK bank account and Roman Abramovich, who is currently subject to sanctions by the British government, would then donate all of the proceeds to charitable causes as he promised.
The bidding process was sped up recently and the announcement comes with just over three weeks remaining on the club’s current operating license, which expires on May 31.
Abramovich had to put the club up for sale in early March following his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
He cleared the path for the takeover on Thursday after dismissing reports he wanted a loan given to the club, reportedly worth 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), to be repaid
The Boehly group, which also includes Swiss billionaire Wyss, was in exclusive negotiations to buy the club after late bids from British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and other consortiums were rejected by the Raine group.
Groups led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and former British Airways chairman Martin Broughton were earlier eliminated from the bidding process while a consortium led by Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts family pulled out of the running after severe fan backlash clearing the way for him to takeover.
