Chelsea Football Club will take over new ownership from Monday after US billionaire-led consortium Todd Boehly reached a final deal to complete its £ 4.25bn acquisition of Roman Abramovich.
A statement from the club said: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that a final and final agreement was signed last night to sell the club to the Todd Boehly / Clearlake Capital consortium. The transaction is expected to be completed on Monday. will update more at that time “.
It was in early March, and just a week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Abramovich made the shocking decision to put Chelsea up for sale after 19 years as owner. Eight days later, he was sanctioned by the UK government, which issued Chelsea a special license to continue operating day in and day out.
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This was due to expire on 31 May, and so began a race against time to complete Chelsea’s takeover. The sale of the club was carried out by the American commercial bank The Raine Group, which reduced a number of potential bidders to a strong list of four consortia.
Boehly’s bid, backed by investment firm Clearlake Capital, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter, has always been seen as a strong competitor by those involved in the process. It was also very important that they were willing to accept the various demands made by Abramovich to protect the immediate future of the club.
However, the approval of the Premier League and the government of the United Kingdom was required. And the latter intended to ensure that Abramovich did not benefit from the sale of the club, which has won 19 trophies in the 19 years since the Russian arrived at Stamford Bridge.
On Tuesday evening it was confirmed that members of the Boehly consortium had passed the Premier League owners and directors test, and on Wednesday morning the UK government issued a statement approving the sale.
“After extensive work, we are now satisfied that all the profits from the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or any other sanctioned person,” a statement read. “We will now begin the process of ensuring that proceeds from the sale are used for humanitarian causes in Ukraine, supporting the victims of the war.
“Today’s steps will secure the future of this important cultural asset and protect the football fans and the community at large. We have been in talks with relevant international partners to obtain the necessary licenses and we thank them for all their cooperation.”
One of the first tasks on Boehly’s agenda will be to support the head coach of the men’s first team, Thomas Tuchel, with the investment in the German squad. The summer transfer window opens in just over two weeks, and Chelsea need replacements for outgoing defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. Other positions also need to be strengthened.
“We have to be fast and smart,” said the Chelsea coach. “At the moment, we have a big disadvantage, but this is not yet decisive. There is no need to apologize, it is the situation we are in, and we must be as fast as possible. Right now, of course, it is unsatisfactory because we have our hands tied up and we can’t act the way we want.
“We have clear ideas about the profiles and characteristics of these players. But it’s not like we put a name on the list, and then we get the player. We have to convince the player, talk to their clubs and convince us that this is the player [we need]. So there is usually a lot of work to be done, and it will be the same to be competitive next season. “
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