Chelsea confirmed in an official statement that a consortium led by American billionaire Todd Boehly, has signed a contract to buy the club. The deal – worth 4.25 billion pounds – is still subject to approval from both the Premier League and the United Kingdom government, but the sale is expected to be completed later this month.
The club’s future is starting to look much clearer now after weeks and months of uncertainty and speculation. Disaster struck when the UK government had forced sanctions of the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
What was initially meant to be several reservations quickly became a full out ban and the businessman had to cut ties with Chelsea as well as his assets in UK. For the last month and a half, the club is being run on limited resources, during which its bidding was open to investors across the world.
Finally, the moment of resolution has arrived as Chelsea has confirmed that they have agreed terms with the consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital over the acquisition of the Premier League side.
They announced that the deal was officially worth 4.25 billion pounds in a statement issued in the early hours of Saturday. However, it is still subject to the necessary and requisite approvals from both the Premier League council as well as the UK government.
“The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. More details will be provided at that time,”
Chelsea further announce that their owners would pay 2.5 billion upfront to purchase the shares, while a further 1.75 billion will be committed towards investing in the Stamford Bridge stadium, women’s team, the youth academy and the Chelsea Foundation.
Former owner Abramovich led the path for the takeover after dismissing reports that he wanted a part of the loan that he had lent to the club, worth nearly 1.5 billion pounds, repaid to him.
The official announcement and clarification comes as a respite for Chelsea fans as the club only had three weeks remaining on their current operating licence, which expires on May 31.
