(Reuters) -Chelsea Football Club has confirmed that terms have been agreed with a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital over the acquisition of the English Premier League soccer crew.
The Stamford Bridge-based outfit introduced the 4.25 billion pound ($5.2 billion) deal for the reigning European champions in an announcement issued within the early hours of Saturday, topic to receiving the required approvals.
“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a brand new possession group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to purchase the club,” the assertion mentioned.
“The sale is anticipated to full in late May topic to all obligatory regulatory approvals. More particulars will probably be supplied at the moment.”
Chelsea mentioned the brand new homeowners would pay 2.5 billion kilos to buy shares whereas committing an additional 1.75 billion kilos to put money into the stadium, ladies’s crew, the academy and the Chelsea Foundation.
The assertion confirmed all proceeds could be positioned in a frozen UK checking account and Russian proprietor Roman Abramovich, who’s presently topic to sanctions by the British authorities, would donate all the proceeds to charitable causes.
The announcement comes with simply over three weeks remaining on the club’s present working licence, which expires on May 31.
Abramovich put the club up on the market in early March following his nation’s invasion of Ukraine.
He cleared the trail for the takeover on Thursday after dismissing stories he needed a mortgage given to the club, reportedly value 1.5 billion kilos ($1.9 billion), to be repaid.
The Boehly group, which additionally contains Swiss billionaire Wyss, had been in unique negotiations to buy the club after a late bid from British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe was rejected.
Groups led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and former British Airways chairman Martin Broughton had been earlier eradicated from the bidding course of whereas a consortium led by Chicago Cubs homeowners the Ricketts household pulled out of the operating.
($1 = 0.8106 kilos)
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney and Michael Church; Editing by William Mallard and Stephen Coates)
