Chelsea want to ensure that change of ownership of the club won’t be ‘politically controversial’ as Roman Abramovich edges closer to selling Liverpool’s Premier League rivals....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale last week as calls grew for him to face sanctions from UK government in the wake of the military invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the 55-year-old billionaire’s ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich, who bought Chelsea in 2003, is understood to be seeking £3bn for the club and will write off the £1.5bn he is owed in loans, with the net proceeds of any sale going towards a charitable foundation to help those impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Potential suitors have already been circling in recent days, with US billionaire Todd Boehly, who owns stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, as well as Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss both heavily linked.
Politically controversial ownership of football clubs has come under increased scrutiny recently, with the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) criticised due to the PIF’s links to the state, something that the Premier League decreed had enough of a separation, and Saudi’s poor human rights record.
Now, with Abramovich’s historical links, and Everton-linked Alisher Usmanov’s similar ties to Putin, Russian ownership has been targeted through sanctions, with the sale of Chelsea and Everton’s suspension of sponsorship deals with Usmanov’s USM Holdings and MegaFon meaning that the two clubs have born the brunt of sanctions thus far. Manchester United also took the decision to end a sponsorship deal with Russian airline Aeroflot.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, Joe Ravitch, the co-founder of investment bank Raine Group LLC who have been tasked with finding a buyer for Chelsea, said that the process would take as long as is necessary to find the right buyer for the club.
He said: “We are not going to rush anything. It is very important that Chelsea have the right owner to guide the club forward.”
Reuters sources also revealed that the club would be unlikely to see its buyer come from countries including China or Saudi Arabia due to the concerns over political controversy.
Such a move would narrow the scope for Chelsea, which could spell better news for Liverpool.
Finding ways to keep pace with the influx of petrodollar cash into football has been one of the biggest challenges facing the Reds and Fenway Sports Group, who have placed much investment into strategy and data to seek value where others may miss it.
It is a strategy that has delivered a Premier League, Champions League and League Cup in the past three years and one that is the blueprint for the club’s present and future.
Manchester City’s ownership by the United Arab Emirates’ City Football Group has also seen enormous wealth arrive into the club, although the investment that has been made into the business means that it has now started to move itself closer to sustainability.
By Chelsea’s own admission in their most recent set of club accounts, which showed a £146m loss, they had a “reliance” on Abramovich’s Fordstam Ltd company.
Abramovich is worth some £13bn and finding a buyer with similar value and willingness to underwrite losses to the extent that the Russian did won’t be easy. A change of strategy may have to occur, especially if it is US ownership that steps into the breach.
Strategy is what has seen Liverpool and City carve out their positions at the summit of the Premier League, and Chelsea haven’t been too far behind in that respect, their investment into their youth academy having been a source of both talent and major resource due to the volume of players that have been moved on that came out of the youth setup at Stamford Bridge.
But without a backer as willing to lose money on the club as Abramovich, looking at ways to make best use of investment with a longer term vision, and not following the Manchester United path of simply spending big in the transfer market with no direction, may well be the preferred course of action.
Success comes from the top, after all.
But one party that won’t be part of the bidding process to acquire the club and take over at the top is that of RedBird Capital Partners.
The New York private equity firm that owns 11 per cent of Liverpool owners FSG had been erroneously linked over the weekend with a bid for Chelsea, but RedBird sources told the ECHO that there was no truth in the reports and that they were committed to their long term investment into FSG and had no interest in divesting to focus on other projects.
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