Jim Ratcliffe makes late £4.25 billion bid for Chelsea FC
BRITISH billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has launched a last-gasp £4.25 billion (S$7.4 billion) bid for Chelsea Football Club.
The founder of chemicals group Ineos Group said in a statement on Friday (Apr 29) that the offer included a £2.5 billion charitable contributions and a £1.75 billion commitment to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.
Representatives for Chelsea and The Raine Group, the US advisory firm handling the sale on behalf of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, weren't immediately available for comment.
Ratcliffe's move adds a dramatic late twist to what has become one of the most closely-watched and politically-charged deals in world sports. It pits him against 3 remaining bid groups for Chelsea, which are being led by former Guggenheim Partners President Todd Boehly, British businessman Martin Broughton and Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca.
"This is a British bid, for a British club," Ineos said in a statement on Friday. "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."
Raine had been expected to name its preferred bidder within the coming days and it's not clear whether Ratcliffe's offer has come too late for consideration.
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Ratcliffe, who's worth almost US$11 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is no stranger to buying football clubs. He has in the past invested in French club OGC Nice and Switzerland's FC Lausanne-Sport.
The sale of Chelsea is likely to be one of the biggest-ever transactions involving a sports team. Another bid group, led by the US Ricketts family and including hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, dropped out of the running in earlier this month, further narrowing a field that had once numbered more than 20 potential suitors.
For Chelsea, its employees and fans, a sale will bring much-needed certainty as it's been unable to operate normally since Abramovich had his assets frozen by the UK government in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich put Chelsea on the block in early March, shortly before the UK placed him under far-reaching sanctions for his ties to President Vladimir Putin's regime.
Since then, the west London side has been running under a number of restrictions that have prevented it from selling some matchday tickets, merchandise and negotiating new contracts with players.
Chelsea is currently operating under a special UK government licence that expires on May 31. In an interview with the BBC this week, the UK's culture secretary Nadine Dorries described Chelsea as being on "borrowed time".
During almost 2 decades of ownership, Abramovich spent hundreds of millions of pounds turning Chelsea into one of the biggest forces in world football.
The club won more than 20 trophies in that time, including last season's UEFA Champions League, and was regularly able to attract the sport's biggest stars. BLOOMBERG
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