Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Chelsea FC sale: Ex-chancellor Osborne signs up to advise Boehly bid

Chelsea FC sale: Ex-chancellor Osborne signs up to advise Boehly bid

Robey Warshaw, the firm George Osborne joined last year, is trying to seal a takeover of Chelsea FC by a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
George Osborne, the former chancellor, has been parachuted in to help the Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly clinch a takeover of Chelsea Football Club that would rank as the most lucrative sports franchise sale in history.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Robey Warshaw, the City advisory firm that Mr Osborne joined last year, has signed up as an adviser to the consortium fronted by Mr Boehly.

The former Conservative minister, who left frontline politics in 2016 to amass a portfolio of private sector jobs including the editorship of the Evening Standard, is a lifelong Blues fan and season ticket-holder, and was pictured holding the Champions League trophy after Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout in the 2012 final.

Mr Osborne is also a close friend of Lord Finkelstein, The Times columnist who has agreed to join Chelsea's board if Mr Boehly's bid is successful.

Robey Warshaw is now working alongside Goldman Sachs as an adviser to the bid comprising Mr Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Hansjorg Wyss and others.

The auction of Chelsea has become arguably the most politically charged sports deal in British history, eclipsing even the controversial takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi sovereign wealth fund-led consortium.

Roman Abramovich's sanctioning by the government and disqualification by the Premier League as a director of the club he has owned since 2003 has left the Stamford Bridge outfit's fate in the hands of ministers.

A preferred bidder is expected to be identified by Raine Group, the merchant bank handling the sale, in the coming weeks, when it will be recommended to the government in order to secure a special licence approving the sale.

The field of suitors for Chelsea shrank from four to three on Friday when a consortium involving the Chicago Cubs-owning Ricketts family, the Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and the hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin withdrew from the process.

The consortium issued a brief statement to say that it had not submitted a final offer owing to "certain issues [that] could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process".

One source close to the Ricketts-led bid said that Mr Griffin had decided against committing to a binding offer.

The group's decision leaves Mr Boehly's bid competing against one fronted by Sir Martin Broughton, the former British Airways and Liverpool FC chairman, and which includes funding from the Crystal Palace shareholders and private equity billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer; and a rival offer headed by Steve Pagliuca, the Boston Celtics co-owner, and Larry Tanenbaum, the NBA chairman who owns elite sports teams spanning football, basketball and ice hockey.

The True Blues Consortium - a Chelsea supporters' group which counts former Blues captain John Terry among its founders - has thrown its weight behind Mr Pagliuca's bid.

More than 10,000 Chelsea fans have expressed an interest in owning shares worth more than £150m as part of the deal that will see Mr Abramovich replaced as the club's owner.

Sky News reported earlier this week that Mr Boehly's offer would in fact be dominated by Clearlake Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, which would own at least 50% of Chelsea if its bid succeeds.

Mr Boehly and his co-investors Mark Walter and Mr Wyss would own minority stakes, although they would share operational control of the club.

Jonathan Goldstein, a London-based property developer who works closely with Mr Boehly, has also been involved in the bid.

Final bids, which were expected to value Chelsea at more than £2.5bn, thereby breaking the record for a sports club takeover, were tabled on Thursday.

On Sunday, the Blues face Crystal Palace in an FA Cup semi-final - a match which highlights the fact that Mr Harris and Mr Blitzer will have to dispose of their shares in the south-east London club before acquiring an interest in Chelsea.

Sources close to the remaining bidders say that Raine has told them it may await clearance from the Premier League for all of the consortia before presenting a preferred bidder to ministers.

Scrutiny of the four bids by English football's top flight has already got under way after the remaining consortia submitted details of their key investors to Raine just over two weeks ago.

The Premier League is expected to take the remainder of this month to evaluate those involved in the bids - who include a string of US billionaires and pillars of the British corporate establishment - and its work to approve all three consortia means the sale process may need to be extended.

All the bidders have been told to provide legal undertakings that they will guarantee at least £1bn of investment in the club's infrastructure, its academy and women's team if they buy it.

The sale process has been complicated by the sanctions against Mr Abramovich, but has not inhibited interest from a multitude of billionaires who either control or own stakes in a legion of North American teams spanning baseball, basketball and ice hockey.

The cluster of bidders underlines the extent to which the English Premier League has become a magnet for financiers from across the Atlantic during the past 20 years.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been acquired by US-based businessmen during that period, and a significant number of other top-flight clubs also have American backing.

Last season's Champions League-winners have been thrown into disarray by Russia's war on Ukraine, with Mr Abramovich initially proposing to place the club in the care of its foundation and then formally putting it up for sale.

By the standards of conventional takeover processes, the Chelsea auction has moved at breakneck pace, with executives at other major investment banks suggesting that such a complex sale would typically have taken at least six months.

Prior to being sanctioned, Mr Abramovich had said he intended to write off a £1.5bn loan to the club and hand the net proceeds from the sale to a new charity that he would set up to benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine.

A rapid conclusion to the auction sale is seen as essential if Chelsea is to avert the uncertainty that would trigger the break-up of one of the top flight's most valuable playing squads.

Mr Abramovich had initially slapped a £3bn price tag on the Stamford Bridge outfit, with the net proceeds being donated to a charitable foundation set up to benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine.

Robey Warshaw declined to comment on Saturday, while Mr Boehly's consortium has been contacted for comment.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “The Current Welfare State Can No Longer Be Financed”
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
Wizz Air passengers screamed as storm-battered flight diverts to Bologna
European postal services halt U.S. deliveries after Trump imposes new tariffs
Urban explorer finds abandoned luxury restaurant left to decay
Fidesz leader labels Péter Magyar a ‘bluffer’ amid escalating political spat
French rope park operator arrested for denying entry to Israeli children
Újpest thrashes Zalaegerszeg 4-1 to secure first win in five matches
Profit-margin cap costs retailers 13 billion forints a month, warns trade group
Curiosity rover finds coral-like rock on Mars hinting at watery past
U.S. green policy rollback drives investors to Europe’s sustainable finance market
Special funerals rise in Hungary: boat, aerial and forest burials gain popularity
Hungary’s Kiskunság region turning into semi-desert after extreme drought
Kopasz Bálint wins world kayak 1000 m title in Milan, making him triple world champion
Budapest’s Keleti railway station to close for four weeks for track overhaul
Balaton could be unfit for swimming by 2035 and dry by 2050, scientists warn
Leaked guidelines show Meta’s AI allowed flirty and racist interactions with children
Filming of ‘Emily in Paris’ halted after assistant director dies on set
Filipino guest workers sue after Hungary moves to deport them for pregnancy
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
×