Chelsea announced tonight that it has reached an agreement and will pass into the hands of the economic group headed by Todd Boehly. The operation would be carried out for nearly five billion euros, although it has yet to be approved.
Chelsea announced this Friday that reached an agreement for the sale of the club and the new owner is the economic group whose outgoing head American Todd Boehlywho is co-owner of the LA Dodgers (baseball) and has shares in the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA).
As confirmed by Chelsea, which was for sale after the sanctions against Román Abramovich for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Todd Boehly will be joined in this ownership group by Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss.
Chelsea, with a new owner: how much will the investment be
Chelsea’s statement states that the economic group will invest “2,500 million pounds sterling to buy the shares (about 3,000 million euros)“ and that, moreover, “the proposed new owners will commit £1.75 billion in additional investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding from the Chelsea Foundation.”
Chelsea also stated that The operation is expected to be confirmed by the end of May. although everything will have to be approved by the Government of the United Kingdom and the Premier League.
The delicate situation in which Chelsea finds itself
The May 31 expired the special license that Chelsea had to continue operating and for this reason it needed to find a new owner after Roman Abramovich –close to Valdimir Putin– make the decision to move away from the London entity and transfer the management of the institution to the Club Foundation after receiving fStrong pressure from the British parliament following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“During my nearly 20 years as Chelsea owner, I have always seen my sole role as steward of the club, a job to ensure we are as successful as we can be today, and also for the future, as we play a important in our communities. I have always made decisions with the interests of the club first. I am committed to upholding these values. That is why today I hand over the care and stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation. I believe they are better off position that I take to look after the interests of the club, the players, the coaching staff and the fans.”communicated Abramovich on February 26.
The UK Government froze Chelsea’s accounts: the club’s strong response
A few days after the decision to move away from Chelsea, The United Kingdom sanctioned Roman Abramovich for his link with Vladimir Putin in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine. the british government froze the tycoon’s assets and it prohibited the sale of Chelsea, as well as the deprivation of traveling and residing in Great Britain. From the Premier League team, they responded to the measures taken against their owner.
“By virtue of its 100 per cent ownership of Chelsea FC plc and affiliated entities, Chelsea FC would normally be subject to the same sanctions regime as Mr Abramovich. However, the UK Government has issued a general license allowing the Chelsea FC continue with certain activities.
We will meet our men’s and women’s team matches today against Norwich and West Ham respectively, and we intend to enter into discussions with the UK government on the scope of the licence. This will include requesting permission to amend the license in order to allow the Club to operate as normally as possible. We will also seek guidance from the UK Government on the impact of these measures on the Chelsea Foundation and its important work in our communities.
The Club will update further when it is appropriate to do so.”
The restrictions on Chelsea as a result of the sanction of its owner, Roman Abramovich
The club faced several sanctions: it could not incorporate or transfer players, it could not renew its players’ contracts and the sale of tickets (neither local nor away) and merchandising is strictly prohibited. However, the players continued to collect their dream and fans who bought season tickets are allowed to attend games.
Who were interested in buying Chelsea
The first candidates to stay with Chelsea when its sale was known were Sir Jim Ratcliffe (owner of Ineos Group who was once the richest man in the UK in 2018), the ultimate winner Todd Boehly (president of Eldridge Industries and owner of the LA Lakers and LA Dodgers), Hansjorg Wyss (founder of Synthes USA, the world’s largest medical device manufacturer) and Esteban Ross (real estate developer, investor and owner of the Miami Dolphins of the NFL).
Then, with the passing of days, the UFC fighter joined the candidates. Conor McGregor, while also Lewis Hamilton y Serena Williams they were interested in being part of the Chelsea acquisition.
“As long as we have enough T-shirts and a mic…”
Amid the club’s sanctions and uncertainty about how he was going to deal with what was coming, Thomas Tuchel, manager of Chelsea, described the situation after a win against Norwich: “Until now we can trust each other and this will not change. As long as we have enough jerseys and a mic to drive to matches, we will be there and compete hard.”.
“Everyone can be very sure that we are focused on ourselves, on keeping the right attitude and mindset on the training pitch and within the team.” expressed the German coach.
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