Chelsea takeover could be approved in ten days, says Richard Masters
Masters said the league was confident that Chelsea would be able to continue playing matches, even if Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK government
The Premier League has encouraged Roman Abramovich to agree to a deal to sell Chelsea quickly, saying it could approve new owners within ten days.
Abramovich, the 55-year-old Russian billionaire, is selling the club he bought in 2003 and has instructed the US investment bank The Raine Group to find a buyer.
The Times understands that a consortium led by Todd Boehly, the American owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, and the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss has made The Raine Group aware of its interest and is seeking to become the frontrunner.
Abramovich wants about £3 billion for the club he bought for £140 million 19 years ago. He has said that he does not want to be repaid the £1.5 billion he has loaned Chelsea and that “net proceeds” of the sale would go to victims of the war in Ukraine, with sources close to him saying that the pledge applied to all victims, potentially including some in Russia.
Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, who was criticised on Thursday for refusing to cancel the league’s broadcast deal in Russia, said Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea had become unsustainable after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Masters told the Business of Football Summit, organised by the Financial Times: “It’s the right decision [for Abramovich to sell]. The situation has escalated incredibly quickly over the last seven days and he’s come to the right conclusion that it is unsustainable. While there is a war going on, sport and Russia can’t mix.”
Asked about the timescale of a Chelsea sale going through, Masters said: “I think the quickest one we’ve done is ten days. That’s not to say that record can’t be beaten. But normally it would take a number of weeks, and it all depends on the complexity of the deal and the number of potential owners. So, provided that the information is easily digestible, easily understandable and gives us all the right answers, it could be done relatively quickly.”
Masters said the league was confident that Chelsea would be able to continue playing matches, even if Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK government and has his assets frozen before a sale is completed. He was not included on a list of Russians sanctioned by the government last night.
The Boehly-Wyss consortium has been the most publicly visible so far and has contacted The Raine Group, which has sent non-disclosure agreements to all potential buyers. Wyss, 86, is worth £3.8 billion and sold his medical device company for £14.8 billion. Boehly, worth about £5 billion, was unsuccessful with a bid to buy Chelsea three years ago. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos founder who is one of the UK’s richest people, has previously inquired about buying Chelsea but is thought to consider £3 billion as overpriced.
