The process for the sale of the Chelsea club to American businessman, Todd Boehly, and his consortium of investors has been finalized, the club announced on Monday (30 May). The latter therefore no longer belongs to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
“The consortium led by Tedd Boehly, chairman and managing director of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group announced today [Monday] that the transfer of ownership of Chelsea Football Club has been completed”, wrote the Blues, bought for five Billions of Euro’s.
The consortium also includes Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and Mark Walter, a business partner of Mr. Boehly, with whom he shares ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
‘Honored to be Chelsea’s new goalkeepers’
The record transaction for a collective sports team had received the green light from the Premier League and especially from the British government in recent days. The latter had been very fussy about the assembly chosen for the sale, after having frozen the assets of the Russian oligarch in March, because of his supposed links with Vladimir Putin.
“Under the terms of the agreement, Boehly and Clearlake will have joint control and equal power within the club,” the statement said. The businessman and the investment fund had undertaken to invest nearly two billion of the sale amount in the club’s infrastructure, in particular to modernize its Stamford Bridge stadium.
“We are honored to become Chelsea Football Club’s new goalkeepers. We are fully committed – 100% – for every minute of every game. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make fans proud,” Boehly said in the statement.