Goldman
Sachs are advising a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly as
four bids are confirmed to have been submitted for the purchase of Chelsea.
LA Dodgers part-owner Boehly, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and Jonathan
Goldstein have backing in their bid from California-based investment firm
Clearlake Capital, who have roughly $60 billion (£45.6 billion) of assets
under management, and want to complete a takeover before Chelsea's next
Premier League game against Brentford on April 2.
Times columnist and former Conservative government adviser Daniel
Finkelstein and American PR legend Barbara Charone are also part of the
consortium.
Sky Sports News has been told by sources close to the Boehly consortium they
are hopeful they have the complete plan - and the speed - to win government
approval and that of bankers Raine, who have already stressed the importance
of a quick sale.
The group is also being advised by Goldman Sachs, the powerful Wall Street
investment bank, according to Sky News' City Editor Mark Kleinman.
The addition of Goldman to Mr Boehly's bid is understood to have been
disclosed in an offer letter sent to Raine on Friday.
While Goldman's involvement is limited at this stage to an advisory rather
than financing role, its decision to work with Mr Boehly underlines its
apparent status as one of the frontrunners to succeed Roman Abramovich as
the Blues' owner.
Spokesmen for Goldman and Mr Boehly both declined to comment on Saturday.
Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton is joined by the president of
World Athletics Lord Sebastian Coe - both men are Chelsea season ticket
holders - and have pledged to invest in players and facilities if
successful.
They also said "all cash proceeds from the sale are delivered without delay
to the victims of the ongoing humanitarian crisis created by Russia's
invasion of Ukraine" and promised that fans would be "at the heart of
decision making".
Twelve years ago Sir Broughton brokered the sale of Liverpool in similar
circumstances - as state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland were the club's
major shareholder, it meant he had to work with the UK government to approve
the sale to Fenway Sports Group. He told Sky News: "I've been a Chelsea fan
since 1955. I've been down there for 67 years. I am a fan. I think it's
important that we have a great deal of fan involvement in this.
"We can bring stability. That's an important part of having a consortium.
When you have a single party you run geopolitical risks and financial risks,
even health risks, where an incident can create confusion and chaos at the
club.
"Where you have a consortium, if something like that happens, it affects the
consortium - it doesn't affect the club. A consortium brings long-term
stability of like-minded, highly-capitalised people who are in it for the
long haul, with no exit timeline at all."
British luxury property developer Nick Candy - who has also pledged to have
fan representation on the club's board - confirmed he is leading a global
consortium that has submitted a bid of £2 billion.
The group say they are committed to delivering financial support for all
men's, women's and academy teams and want to build a new stadium at Stamford
Bridge to create a major new London landmark.
The Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, are joined in their bid by
billionaire hedge fund owner Ken Griffin, who is the richest individual
involved in the process and worth nearly three times as much as Roman
Abramovich.
There have been other confirmations of bids for Chelsea, with Aethel
Partners putting in a bid worth more than £2 billion for Chelsea on
Thursday. An investment company based in Berkeley Square in London, it is
willing to provide Chelsea with an immediate £50m to deal with any
short-term financing the club may need.
However, Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak says he did not bid for Chelsea
despite claiming earlier this month there was a "90 per cent chance" he
would buy the club.
Bayrak said he was very upset at missing Friday's 9pm deadline and blamed a
misunderstanding with his lawyers.
Bayrak's claims about his interest in buying Chelsea had always been viewed
with scepticism by those close to the sale process.
Chelsea Supporters Trust confirmed they have held talks with several of the
bidders and have called for fan involvement "through the creation of a
legally-binding golden share". They also urged the government to show its
support for football fans by "implementing the recommendations of the
Fan-led review for the benefit of all supporters".
Chelsea to only have 670 fans at
Middlesbrough
The sale of Chelsea has come amid UK and EU sanctions on Abramovich
following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the Premier League club also
under a number of restrictions.
The club - including women and youth teams - cannot sell tickets to games or
sell merchandise and are restricted on how much they can spend on any given
game day.
Thomas Tuchel's side take on Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals on
Saturday and will only have 670 fans at the Riverside as that is how many
fans had purchased tickets before Abramovich was sanctioned last Thursday
and the new restrictions came in to force.
The government has lifted the £20,000 away travel cap for the game, however,
to allow Chelsea to fly to the game as they normally would.
The club and the government remain in talks about amending some of the
restrictions Chelsea are operating under, with the government considering
allowing a third party to handle the sale and distribution of tickets.
Middlesbrough will be donating their share of gate receipts - expected to be
about £300,000 - from the game to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
top