London's Chelsea has completed the process of transferring the club's shares from Todd Boehly and Mark Walter to the private investment group Clearlake Capital. This is stated in a club announcement, reports UNN.
Chelsea Football Club announced today that affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. will acquire Todd Boehly's stake. Hansjörg Wyss will remain an important shareholder and partner in the ownership group. As part of this transition, Clearlake will also acquire Mark Walter's stake and will thereby gain full control of the club
As noted, in 2022 Todd Boehly and Clearlake "joined forces to lead the historic acquisition of Chelsea — successfully navigating an unprecedented period of uncertainty caused by external political events",.
Todd Boehly is stepping down as chairman of Chelsea, leaving the club in an excellent position for the next stage of its development. The progress achieved over the past four years reflects the shared commitment of Clearlake, Boehly himself and the entire ownership group, as well as Chelsea's management, staff, coaches and players. Clearlake intends to continue developing the strategic course the club is currently pursuing and to implement the ambitions jointly developed by the ownership group
According to the Financial Times, Boehly and Walter will receive £950 million for a combined stake of approximately 25%, valuing the entire club, including debt, at approximately £5 billion. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2026
Additional information
The UK government, led by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, forced Abramovich to sell Chelsea after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Abramovich bought Chelsea in July 2003.
Blue-Co, a consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, acquired the club in May 2022, but the proceeds from Abramovich's sale remained frozen.
In December, former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer threatened Abramovich with legal action if the Russian oligarch did not agree to the government's terms, adding that "time is running out".
However, Abramovich's representatives have long argued that the agreement never stipulated that the funds could be spent only in Ukraine, and they are now trying to break the deadlock.
In March, Abramovich's legal representatives launched a fierce criticism of the Starmer government over the transfer of funds to victims of the war in Ukraine. In an official letter, the lawyers claim that £2.35 billion still belongs to the oligarch and that the delay in distributing it was caused by ministers' actions.
Abramovich plans to challenge the UK government, using a new charitable foundation to use the frozen £2.35 billion received from the sale of Chelsea not only for the benefit of Ukraine.
It will be recalled
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