British businessman Jim Ratcliffe has surprisingly tabled a £4.25 billion ($5.3 billion) bid to buy Premier League club Chelsea, his company Ineos announced on Friday.
The Blues Russian owner Roman Abramovich had put up the club for sale on March 2 before being placed under sanctioned the following week by the British government over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although believed to be coming close to a conclusion, the somewhat lengthy sale deliberation process is – handled by New York bank the Raine Group on behalf of owner Roman Abramovich – is reportedly set to announce their preferred bidder.
In the final stages of the process, British tycoon Ratcliffe has decided to now be involved with the bidding with an offer that would see £1.75 billion of investment into Chelsea over 10 years while a further £2.5 billion would be committed to a charitable trust to support victims of the war in Ukraine.
Ratcliffe’s offer has been reported to be the biggest so far for the London club.
The 69-year-old billionaire – the founder of chemicals company Ineos, which is known for its sponsorship of British cycling’s Team Ineos – had in the past ventured into an exploratory potential bid for Chelsea in 2019, but ended up purchasing French club Nice instead.
“This is a British bid, for a British club,” an Ineos statement said. “We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC.
“This will be organic and ongoing so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.
“We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first-class squad of the world’s greatest players, coaches and support staff, in the men’s and women’s games.
“And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first class players.”
Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca are the figureheads of the other three consortiums bidding to buy the 2021 Champions League winners.
“We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city. One that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club,” the Ineos statement said.
“We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game, not as a means to turn a profit.
“The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason.”
Chelsea are eagerly hoping to have a new owner in place by the end of May as boss Thomas Tuchel is understandably anxious to be planning head for next season but head coach Thomas Tuchel is currently unable to offer new contracts to existing players or sign players from other clubs due to the sanctions weighing down heavily on Abramovich.
Once the Raine Group selects a preferred bidder, the government must then grant a new licence to allow the sale to be completed.