LONDON (Reuters) – British football club Chelsea said on Saturday it had reached a definitive agreement to sell it to a consortium formed by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in a deal which should be finalized on Monday.
This consortium, which offers 4.25 billion pounds (4.96 billion euros) for the London club, received the green light from the British government on Wednesday for a continuation of the operation.
“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that a final and binding agreement was reached last night to sell the club to the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium,” the Premier League outfit said in a statement.
“The transaction is expected to close on Monday,” the statement added.
The club’s current owner, Roman Abramovich, is facing sanctions from the British government and put the club up for sale in early March following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, presented by Moscow as a ” special military operation”.
Approval of the operation by the Portuguese government was also necessary as Roman Abramovich became a Portuguese citizen last year and is also subject to European Union sanctions.
Roman Abramovich, who had already assured that he did not want to profit from the sale of the club, said he was “proud that millions of people are now benefiting from the new charitable foundation being created”, in a press release published on the website of Chelsea.
“My goal has been to ensure that the next owner will have a mindset to succeed,” he said. “I am happy that this research has now come to a successful conclusion,” he added.
Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, which won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League trophies under his ownership.
Since Roman Abramovich’s assets were frozen in March, the “Blues” had been operating under a special license issued by the British government, which is due to expire on May 31.
With the sale of the club, Chelsea will once again be able to be active in the transfer market and sign new player contracts.
(Reporting Kate Holton in London and Dhruv Munjal in Bangalore; French version Claude Chendjou)
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