The three final bidders for Chelsea FC are being pressed to provide more details of the club’s proposed administration and governance arrangements as they inch closer to becoming the new owners of last season’s Champions League winners.
Sky News has learnt that the remaining consortia vying to buy the Blues for well over £2bn were this week asked by advisers on the sale to reconfirm future spending plans and to guarantee the long-term financial commitment of their investors.
An investor associated with one of the bidders said on Saturday that Raine Group, which is handling the auction on behalf of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, had in recent days been pressing them for further details of their vision for running the Premier League club.
The investor said that Raine had submitted several requests for new information about the duration of the funding being provided to buy Chelsea, and about how key commitments relating to investment and other areas of its administration would be delivered.
All three of the consortia have been told to provide binding guarantees of at least £1bn of investment in the club’s infrastructure, its academy, and women’s team.
“Raine and the club’s board seem to be focused on ensuring they pick the bidder that will be the best steward of Chelsea over the long term,” the consortium member added.
“From our perspective, we welcome that.”
News of the latest requests for information came as it emerged that a Californian investment firm would own a majority stake in the Blues if the LA Dodgers backer Todd Boehly’s offer for Chelsea is successful.
Sources said that under the bid lodged by Mr Boehly, Clearlake Capital would put up two-thirds of the money to buy Chelsea, effectively handing it a 66% economic interest in the club, although a class of stock carrying voting rights would be split equally between Clearlake and the American businessman’s investor group.
Mr Boehly himself would hold a relatively small stake in…
Source : skynews
