The sale of the English top club FC Chelsea is officially complete. On Tuesday evening, the British government approved the takeover of the club by a US consortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly. That was the prerequisite for the takeover. The Premier League had already approved the sale. “Chelsea FC will now work with the relevant governments to secure the necessary licenses to complete the acquisition,” a statement said on Tuesday.
Boehly takes over the club for a price of £4.25 billion (around €5 billion). More money has never been spent on a sports club. The pure purchase price is around 2.5 billion pounds. The remaining amount must be invested in the association. That was a condition of the London club’s sale.
Since 2003, Chelsea has belonged to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. As a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Abramovich ended up on a British government sanctions list due to his proximity to the Kremlin and warring President Vladimir Putin. The 55-year-old was banned from entering and trading.
This also had serious consequences for Chelsea. Because Abramovich was no longer allowed to earn money with Chelsea, the club’s day-to-day business was subject to drastic restrictions: Chelsea were no longer allowed to sell shirts or tickets. Players could neither be bought nor sold. Contracts could not be extended. In short: Chelsea were threatened with insolvency, which could only be averted by selling the clubs as quickly as possible.
The largest stake in Chelsea FC is likely to be held by Clearlake Capital in the future. This is an investment company headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 2006, the company currently has more than $70 billion in assets under management and will own half of Chelsea FC’s shares.
However, Clearlake Capital is only part of a consortium. The head of the whole thing is the US businessman Todd Boehly. He will take over from Abramovich in future at Chelsea. Boehly is co-founder and CEO of Eldridge Industries, a holding company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Eldridge Industries invests in companies from various industries, such as insurance companies, investment companies or sports, media and consumer goods companies.
According to Forbes magazine, Boehly’s net worth is currently around $4.5 billion. Boehly also owns shares in the sports clubs Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball), Los Angeles Lakers (basketball), Los Angeles Sparks (women’s basketball), Cloud 9 (e-sports) and Draftkings (sports betting and fantasy sports).
In addition to Boehly, Mark Walter and Hansjörg Wyss also belong to the consortium. Walter is CEO of global financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and co-owner of the LA Dodgers. According to Forbes, his net worth is $3.9 billion. Wyss is a Swiss entrepreneur and patron who amassed $5 billion in personal wealth through the sale of his orthopedic company, Synthes, to US multinational Johnson & Johnson.
Boehly and the financiers were selected by the New York commercial bank Raine to enter into so-called preferential talks with Chelsea FC.
A key point in Chelsea’s takeover negotiations was what happens to the money the consortium is now paying for the takeover. The British government set conditions for this, which Roman Abramovich had to agree to.
According to this, 2.5 billion pounds go into an escrow account. The money is to be used for charitable purposes and benefit the victims of the Ukraine war. “We will now ensure that the proceeds from the sale are used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine to support the victims of the war,” the government said in a statement. The government also wants to ensure that the foundation is not dependent on Abramovich. Mike Penrose, a former chief executive of Unicef UK, was asked to lead the foundation. The remaining £1.75 billion will be invested in the club.
Another sticking point: Abramovich had to sign an agreement under which the £1.6 billion he had invested in Chelsea so far would be transferred to a frozen government-controlled account.
All of these measures are intended to ensure that Abramovich does not benefit financially from the sale of Chelsea.