It's official. Chelsea have confirmed that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the Premier League club.
Back in February, it was announced that current owner Roman Abramovich was to sell the football club in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And the need to sell was ramped up by sanctions on the Russian by the UK government.
The sanctions on Chelsea were imposed due to Abramovich's alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Now, a new chapter is on the horizon for Chelsea after it was announced that terms have been agreed with a consortium led by Amercian billionaire Todd Boehly, who is the co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team.
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The club released the following statement on their official website at 1:37am on Saturday morning to confirm the news.
"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.
"Of the total investment being made, £2.5bn will be applied to purchase the shares in the club and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention to donate 100% to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich.
"UK Government approval will be required for the proceeds to be transferred from the frozen UK bank account.
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"In addition, the proposed new owners will commit £1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation.
"The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time."
Boehly may have signed a purchase agreement to buy Chelsea but it will now be put forward for the government and the Premier League to approve.
Boehly has saw off competition from a number of different consortiums to buy Chelsea, including British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who reportedly made a late bid of more than £4 billion to buy the football club.
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According to The Times, Ratcliffe held discussions with club chairman Bruce Buck last week.
And the ambitious Ratcliffe, who supports Manchester United, said the offer would include a pledge of investing £1.75 billion over ten years in terms of developing the stadium, team and infrastructure.
But this consortium led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss has come out victorious.
Thoughts on the takeover news?
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Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy/TwitterTopics: Chelsea, Premier League
