• About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Contact
Friday, January 27, 2023
Financial Eye News
  • Home
  • Markets
    • Stock Market News
    • Commodities
    • Forex
    • Renewables
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • Business
    • News
    • Companies
    • Technology
    • Climate
    • Politics
  • Reports
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • VideosNew
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Markets
    • Stock Market News
    • Commodities
    • Forex
    • Renewables
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • Business
    • News
    • Companies
    • Technology
    • Climate
    • Politics
  • Reports
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • VideosNew
No Result
View All Result
Financial Eye News
No Result
View All Result

Billionaires bank on UK establishment to burnish Chelsea bids

March 18, 2022
in Companies
Reading Time: 3 mins read
51 0
ADVERTISEMENT

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, City grandee Martin Broughton and Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein are fronting bids on behalf of deep-pocketed billionaires in the race to buy Chelsea football club. 

Their involvement highlights how wealthy investors, mainly from the US, are courting the British establishment to burnish their credentials ahead of a deadline for initial bids on Friday evening. 

Chelsea is being sold under extraordinary circumstances after Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who has owned the club since 2003, was placed under sanctions by the UK government earlier this month. 

Obstacles for winning the £2bn battle for control of Chelsea include securing approval from the government, which has the sole power to amend the strict licences it has put in place that now control every aspect of the club’s operations. 

Coe and Broughton, who has chaired British American Tobacco and British Airways, are working with US private equity billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer on their bid, which is also backed by other global investors. 

Broughton is known in English football for his role negotiating the sale of Liverpool football club when the club faced administration in 2010, while Coe is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and former chairman of the London 2012 Games. 

Harris, a former executive at Apollo Global Management, and Blitzer, a senior executive at Blackstone, are co-founders of a sports investment firm with majority ownership of basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers and hockey’s New Jersey Devils, along with a minority stake in Crystal Palace. 

The pair expect to be required to divest the holdings in Palace in order for a potential purchase of Chelsea to go through, two of the people said.

Finkelstein, a Tory peer, is working with Todd Boehly, the US financier who co-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, on his bid which is also being supported by US investment firm Clearlake Capital. 

The Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs baseball side, said this week it plans to bid alongside Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire and founder of Citadel.

Weekly newsletter

Scoreboard is the Financial Times’ must-read weekly briefing on the business of sport, where you’ll find the best analysis of financial issues affecting clubs, franchises, owners, investors and media groups across the global industry. Sign up here.

Other suitors include Oaktree, the $166bn asset manager run by Howard Marks in Los Angeles, and Woody Johnson, the New York Jets American football team owner and former US ambassador to the UK.

The sale of the west London club is a rare opportunity to buy a “big six” Premier League side with a global profile that regularly competes for the biggest trophies in football. The deal will also be a test of a new owner’s ability to remain competitive as the club moves on from being bankrolled by Abramovich.

Abramovich, accused by the UK government of having close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, put Chelsea up for sale after Russia invaded Ukraine, having originally attempted to hand “stewardship” to the team’s charitable foundation. He was subsequently sanctioned by the UK.

The UK has granted a special licence to Chelsea to allow the club to continue playing matches but blocked it from selling new tickets and merchandise, putting pressure on its finances.

US merchant bank Raine Group, which was appointed by Abramovich, is running the auction for the club.

The government has made clear that no money can pass on to Abramovich, who is subject to an asset freeze in the UK. He had already pledged to donate the net proceeds of the sale to charity and forgive £1.5bn of debt owed to him by the entity through which he owns Chelsea.

Raine said in a letter to potential buyers last week that the UK government would have to approve “both the source and use of funds” involved in a sale of Chelsea, a stipulation that raises awkward issues for ministers.

Additional reporting by George Parker and Antoine Gara

Source: Financial Times

ADVERTISEMENT
Share6Tweet4Share1SendShareSend

Related Posts

Companies

Bame workers report pervasive discrimination in finserv

December 5, 2022
Companies

Rail industry enters last-ditch talks to avoid UK Christmas disruption

December 5, 2022
Companies

Glencore: dirty business provides an embarrassment of riches

December 5, 2022
Companies

Trucks: Tesla Semi pulls ahead as start-up rivals crash

December 5, 2022
Companies

Vodafone needs a radical new chief to bring about real change

December 5, 2022
Companies

Vodafone: departure of Nick Read should accelerate restructuring

December 5, 2022

Popular Stories

  • AIG to launch cut-price IPO of life and asset management unit

    48 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12
  • EY boss targets $10bn boost from Silicon Valley tie-ups after break-up

    32 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • Tesla delays plan to restore Shanghai output to pre-lockdown levels -memo

    32 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • TV production giant Banijay to go public via Arnault-backed Spac

    30 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 8
  • Nio to Invest $32.8M Building R&D Labs in Shanghai By Financial Eye

    30 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 8
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest News

Taylor Swift Fans Sue Ticketmaster’s Parent Company

December 5, 2022

Fisker trades down following price cut at Citi By Financial Eye

December 5, 2022

UAW president faces run-off election as reformers make gains

December 5, 2022

Felipe Valls, 89, Whose Cuban Restaurant Became a Political Hub, Dies

December 5, 2022

Longroad buys 98-MW solar farm in California

December 5, 2022
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Financial Eye is one of the most trusted news sources for Financial News, global news and local USA news, we provide the news from the most trusted sources.

LEARN MORE »

Recent News

  • Taylor Swift Fans Sue Ticketmaster’s Parent Company
  • Fisker trades down following price cut at Citi By Financial Eye
  • UAW president faces run-off election as reformers make gains

Sections

  • Business
  • Climate
  • Commodities
  • Companies
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Forex
  • Green Energy
  • Latest Financial News
  • News
  • Politics
  • Stock Market News
  • Technology
  • Videos

© 2022 Financial Eye News Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Markets
    • Stock Market News
    • Commodities
    • Forex
    • Renewables
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • Business
    • News
    • Companies
    • Technology
    • Climate
    • Politics
  • Reports
    • Ultimate Guide to Crypto
  • Videos

© 2022 Financial Eye News Media

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Subscribe To Our Daily News Round-Up.

The top ten most-read stories direct to your inbox

You have Successfully Subscribed!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.