English Premier League top side Chelsea has finally agreed on terms on the £4.25bn ($5.2bn) sale of the club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team. The club was put up for sale before owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following Ukraine’s invasion by the President.
Facts about Chelsea New Owner Todd Boehly
A Chelsea statement said the new owners will pay £2.5bn for the club’s shares. The proceeds will go into a frozen bank account to be donated to charity according to former owner Roman Abramovich. The consortium is led by Boehly but Clearlake Capital, a Californian private equity firm, would own a majority of the shares in Chelsea. Other investors include US billionaire Mark Walter, a co-owner of the LA Dodgers, and Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss.
According to reports, the new owners have agreed to not sell a majority stake in the club until 2032 and have given assurances over dividends and debt. The consortium said it will provide £1.75bn to invest in the Premier League club, including “investments in Stamford Bridge, the academy, the women’s team, and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation”.
Chelsea made it clear in a statement that the sale was expected to complete in late May. The takeover will require approval from the English football authorities and the UK government. The club is operating under a special license from the UK government which ends at the end of this month (May), but last month, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said the club was on “borrowed time” to complete the sale. Any sale can only be signed off by the bidder passing the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test.
The Boehly, an American investor and businessman, has a reported net worth of $4.5bn (£3.6bn), according to Forbes. He is a part-owner of the Dodgers – a US baseball franchise – and US women’s basketball outfit the Los Angeles Sparks and owns a stake in the renowned LA Lakers NBA franchise.
