The
preferred bid for Chelsea will be presented to the government and the
Premier League on April 18, meaning a change of ownership at the club could
take place by the end of next month.
Sky News has learnt a letter sent to the four remaining contenders to buy
Chelsea over the weekend indicates the government will be approached to
issue a licence enabling the sale during the week of April 18.
The additional detail underlines the speed at which Raine Group, the
merchant bank overseeing the sale process, is conducting one of the most
hotly contested corporate auctions in sporting history.
Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, has publicly indicated
it will examine a preferred bidder under its owners' and directors' test as
speedily as possible, citing a previous club takeover that was approved
within 10 days.
In recent weeks, Sky News has exclusively revealed a series of key details
of the Chelsea sale process as Roman Abramovich relinquishes control of the
club he has owned since 2003.
At the weekend, it emerged the quartet of bidders had been handed a deadline
of April 11 - the day before the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League
quarter-final against Real Madrid.
They have been told by Raine they must commit at least £1bn to future
investment in the club if they are to succeed in the battle to end
Abramovich's tenure.
The additional funding must be made available for the Blues' Stamford Bridge
stadium, playing squad and other areas of development.
Raine's insistence on the pool of capital for investment is likely to go
some way to reassuring supporters its new owner will continue to back it
with the kind of significant financial resource they have become accustomed
to under the Russian-born businessman.
The four remaining bidders
All four of the remaining bidders have significant experience in sports
stadium infrastructure, a key consideration given Chelsea's long-standing
dilemma about the expansion of Stamford Bridge, which has a capacity barely
half that of Manchester United's Old Trafford home.
Between them, the final bidders either control or own stakes in US teams
including the Boston Celtics, the Chicago Cubs, the LA Dodgers, the
Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings.
Sir Martin Broughton, the former British Airways and Liverpool FC chairman,
and Lord Coe, the former British Olympian turned sports administrator and
businessman, are fronting a bid that has the financial firepower of Josh
Harris and Dave Blitzer, two wealthy American financiers.
That consortium also includes Vivek Ranadive, an Indian-born entrepreneur,
and a syndicate of other investors from around the world whose identities
are expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
Another of the leading contenders is headed by Todd Boehly, the LA Dodgers
part-owner, and includes Jonathan Goldstein, the London-based property
developer, and Clearlake Capital, a US-based investment firm.
A third group comprises the Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs,
and the Citadel hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, with the US investment
bank Lazard in talks to advise it.
The other remaining contender for Chelsea is a bid spearheaded by Stephen
Pagliuca, an American private equity billionaire who owns the Boston Celtics
and Atalanta in Italy's Serie A.
Sources have said that Raine would assess the four bids against a set of
criteria including the level of equity and debt funding; price; future
investment commitments; speed and certainty of execution; and the claims
each party has to being an appropriate steward of a prestigious sporting
brand.
Last week, the government agreed to further amend the licence allowing
Chelsea to continue operating, with the club now able to resume selling
tickets for away matches.
The proceeds are to be retained by the Premier League and earmarked for a
Ukrainian war victims charity.
Chelsea can also now receive £30m from the club's parent company to ease
cashflow constraints caused by the current crisis.
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