Todd Boehly on course to become new Chelsea owner as his consortium is set to be preferred bidder
Todd Boehly on course to become new Chelsea owner as Raine prepare to select his consortium as the preferred bidder… despite last-gasp hijack attempt from Sir Jim Ratcliffe on dramatic day
Todd Boehly’s consortium is poised to be selected as preferred Chelsea bidderUS businessman Steve Pagliuca has been informed his group is out of the race Sources indicated that Sir Martin Broughton’s consortium were unsuccessfulSir Jim Ratcliffe’s made a shock last-gasp attempt to hijack the bidding process
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American tycoon Todd Boehly is on course to become new Chelsea owner following a dramatic day that saw Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s make a shock last-gasp attempt to hijack the bidding process.
Boehly’s bid is poised to be selected as the preferred bidder for the Stamford Bridge club but the group are still awaiting official confirmation from Raine – the New York-based bank facilitating the sale – and Chelsea.
Sportsmail revealed on Thursday that Boehly’s consortium – that also includes Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss – was leading the race heading into the process’ closing stages.
Fellow US businessman Steve Pagliuca has been informed that his group is out of the race while sources close to the final remaining consortium led by British tycoon Sir Martin Broughton also indicated that they were unsuccessful and that Boehly’s bid had been given the nod – though their elimination from the race had not been confirmed on Friday night.
Sources close to the process have indicated to Sportsmail that the Boehly group will now have a ‘period of time’ – understood to be between five and seven days – to ratify an exclusivity agreement to indicate their full intentions to press ahead with a take over.
If that period of time elapses, then Ratcliffe’s eleventh-hour attempts to gazump the three remaining bidders could come into play.
American tycoon Todd Boehly is on course to become the new Chelsea owner as his bid is poised to be selected as the preferred bidder for the Premier League club
Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s made a shock last-gasp attempt to hijack the bidding
Chelsea was put up for sale in March when Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Ratcliffe’s huge offer to take over from Roman Abramovich has infuriated the three shortlisted parties who have been involved in the bidding process since its inception.
They believe Ratcliffe has disregarded the procedures set out by Raine during the start of the process, all of which they have abided by.
Indeed, there is some confusion over whether Ratcliffe’s offer could even be legally considered by Raine under the specific specific terms of the process, which were agreed by all shortlisted parties.
Sources close to Sir Martin Broughton’s group indicated they were also unsuccessful
US buisnessman Steve Pagliuca (centre) has been informed that his group is out of the race
Ratcliffe’s huge offer to take over from Roman Abramovich has infuriated the three parties
The owner of Ineos, the petrochemicals company, revealed yesterday that he had held discussions with the Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck on Thursday before making the offer.
Ratcliffe said his offer would include an investment of £1.75bn over 10 years to develop Stamford Bridge and other club infrastructure as well as sustaining the team at a high level.
This is in addition to the £2.5bn valuation of the club the prospective new owners have to meet – taking the total offer to £4.25bn.
It’s key to stress that the three other bidders all tabled offers in the region of £2.5bn – with varying degrees of investment.
