Overnight, a deal to sell Chelsea football club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly for £4.25 billion was reached.
The transaction must be approved by the UK government and the Premier League, according to Sky News, but the club expects it to be finalized by the end of May.
The Boehly Group was chosen a preferred bidder a week ago and has been undergoing the Premier League’s owners and directors exam since then.
The takeover and the club’s future have been placed into doubt in recent days as it has become unclear what will happen to the money utilized to purchase the team.
Current owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned and the Uk government won’t approve a deal if he was to receive any of the proceeds.
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It is reported that there was a bit of a race against time to get the deal done. The government gave Chelsea a special operating license that expires at the end of the month. The club was going to be out of business if the takeover wasn’t completed or their license wasn’t extended. But with the announcement of this takeover comes an attempt to clarify what will be happening to the funds.
According to a press statement from the club, “Chelsea football can confirm that terms has been agreed for a new ownership group led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake capital, Mark Walters and Hansjoerg Wyss to acquire the club,”
Also in the statement it was mentioned that £2.5 billion will be spent on purchasing the shares in the club, and the proceeds deposited in a frozen UK account with the intention of donating 100 percent to charity confirmed by Roman Abramovich
The statement also added that new owners will commit £1.75 billion to further invest in the benefits of the club, the stadium, women’s team, the Academy, Kingsmeadow abs the continued funding for the Chelsea football foundation
Roman Abramovich bought the club 19 years ago and put the club up for sale shortly before he was sanctioned by the UK government as part of the response to Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
