Chelsea chair Boehly and Walter each own about 13%<\/p>\n
Sale would give Clearlake effective control of club at 86%<\/p>\n
The Chelsea chair, Todd Boehly, and director Mark Walter are considering selling their shares in the club to the majority owners, Clearlake Capital, in a deal that would give the private equity company complete control at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
Clearlake, whose investment is managed by Behdad Eghbali and Jos\u00e9\u00a0E Feliciano, already owns more than 60% of Chelsea, but in an unusual arrangement agreed when buying the club from Roman Abramovich four years ago, they share operational control with a consortium led by Boehly, who along with Walter and Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss each own about 13%.<\/p>\n
The two ownership groups have been locked in a stalemate for almost two years when reports first emerged that they were seeking to buy each other out following a disagreement over strategy, particularly regarding their plans for a new stadium.<\/p>\n
Discussions over a potential deal, which would value the club at more than \u00a35bn, have resumed over the past few weeks however, as first reported by the Financial Times, as Walter is seeking to raise funds to pay off insurers following a US federal investigation over alleged tax fraud.<\/p>\n
Walter is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over $21bn in loans which it has been alleged were not disclosed to state insurance regulators, which has led to the sudden sale of assets to pay down some of the loans. Walter last week sold the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh \u2060Kushner and Bob Iger \u2060for $12.5bn just a year after buying the NBA franchise for $10bn, leading to speculation that the 66-year-old may also seek to exit Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Boehly and Walter are close friends as well as longstanding business partners, having previously invested together in the LA Dodgers Major League Baseball team and the LA Sparks WNBA franchise.<\/p>\n
Together with Wyss, the pair control 38% of Chelsea through Blueco\u00a022 Holdings, although it is unclear whether the Swiss billionaire is also willing to sell. Under the terms of their \u00a32.5bn purchase from Abramovich after the Russian was sanctioned by the UK government following the invasion of Ukraine however, none of Chelsea\u2019s shareholders can sell to a third party without the consent of their partners.<\/p>\n
An external sale is therefore unlikely, putting Clearlake in a strong position to gain the complete control it has been seeking for some time, although Boehly and Walter will demand a significant premium on the \u00a3325m they paid for their shares four years ago.<\/p>\n
A sale by Boehly and Walter would leave Clearlake with more than 86% of Chelsea\u2019s shares and effective control of the club, including the bid to build a new stadium, which they want to locate at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
Walter has been a silent and barely visible partner at Chelsea, but Boehly was the public face of the club following the 2022 takeover and acted as interim sporting director during that year\u2019s summer transfer window, leading the purchase of players such as Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella.<\/p>\n
Boehly stepped back from that hands-on role after 12 months, with Eghbali taking more operational control on behalf of Clearlake, but has often been blamed by Chelsea fans for the side\u2019s underperformance.<\/p>\n
Boehly was due to stand down as chair at the end of the season, with a Clearlake representative to replace him for the next five years under the terms of the ownership agreement.<\/p>\n
The timing of an exit at this stage would be ironic, as after spending years investing heavily in young players with resale value at Clearlake\u2019s behest, Chelsea have returned to Boehly\u2019s original strategy this summer by signing experienced players such as Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.<\/p>\n