The Race to Buy Chelsea FC

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich purchased Chelsea FC in 2003 for £140 million (£60 million for the club plus £80 million of debt). His lavish spending in the years that followed led to an era of glittering success for the London club that had previously managed win the league just once in 98 years. Over the past 19 years, Chelsea has won:

• 5 Premier Leagues trophies (only Man U, with 6, has won more over the same period)
• 5 FA Cups
• 3 League Cups
• 2 Europa Leagues
• 2 Champions Leagues (2012, 2021...tied with Liverpool for most wins among English clubs)

Yet for all the club's on-field success, Chelsea never really made any money...by one estimate losing £900 million over Abramovich's reign; not that Abramovich needed it to, or much cared. It bought fame, security...even adoration? But on March 10th, after the UK government imposed sanctions on Abramovich for his ties to the Kremlin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Chelsea became a distressed asset. By one report the club's parent company had only cash reserves of £18 million pounds after being cut off from loans made by Abramovich. Moreover, under the sanctions, as long as Abramovich remained the owner, Chelsea could not sell new tickets or even sell merchandise to generate revenue.

So, of course Chelsea is now up for sale...and the good news for fans is that there is a frenzy of bidders for the asset, with some 200 groups showing interest and 30 bids being made. Here's a rundown of the most important groups vying for Chelsea FC: 

• Consortium #1
• Todd Boehly, billionaire financier and part-owner of the LA Dodgers. The American wanted to buy Chelsea in 2019.
• Hansjörg Wyss, Swiss billionaire businessman.
• Jonathan Goldstein, British businessman and CEO of Cain International. Doesn't help he's a big Spurs fan.
• Clearlake Capital, $60 billion AuM California-based private equity firm. The firm typically focuses on acquiring tech companies, but sure, why not?
• Consortium #2
• The Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs. Wanted to buy Chelsea in 2018. Winning MLB's World Series to translate into EPL titles? I dunno, feels Chelsea could have its own Ted Lasso season.
• Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the massive hedge fund Citadel. He's worth $26 billion, so money isn't an issue. But Ted Lasso, he's not.
• Consortium #3
• Martin Broughton, a former chairman of British Airways and big Chelsea fan. Actual experience running a football club, albeit briefly, as Chairman of Liverpool in 2010.
• Lord Sebastian Coe, famed British runner, former Conservative MP, and president of World Athletics. Adds heft, political connections, and some pedigree for the class conscious.
• Woody Johnson
• Heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, former U.S. ambassador to the UK under Trump, and owner of the NY Jets...yeah, no shot.
• Consortium #4
• Nick Candy, British real estate mogul and big Chelsea fan. Promised to put a fan on the board! Mr. Popular.
• South Korea’s Hana Financial Group
• C&P Sports Group
• Saudi Media Company
• Helmed by billionaire Saudi businessman Mohamed Alkhereiji, who is said to be a huge Chelsea fan. Not to be confused with the Saudi government who own Newcastle.
• Aethel Partners
• Global private equity firm headquartered in London.

Several of these groups have made bids of at least £2 billion. Abramovich has stated he would like at least £2.3/$3.0 billion. That would be over 16x what he paid...or ~15.5% annualized return for a money-losing entity. Not bad, not bad at all.