It is deadline day in the race to buy Chelsea, with prospective buyers having until 9pm to table official bids.
Interested parties are intensifying their efforts to buy out Roman Abramovich — putting the finishing touches to offers they are certain will give them the edge.
US bank Raine Group, which is handling the sale, needs to be convinced before making any recommendations to Government and the Premier League. And that has led to bidders coming up with proposals they believe will win favour above and beyond the amount they are prepared to pay.
The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs baseball team, have placed their record of stadium development at the heart to their offer — insisting they are best-placed to carry out the long-awaited rebuild of Stamford Bridge, having done the same to the state-of-the-art Wrigley Field. They are also backed by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who has a net worth of £20billion.
LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and his consortium yesterday outlined their intention to be “pioneers” of fan involvement, with a promise of appointing supporters Danny Finkelstein and Barbara Charone as non-executive board members.
Also part of Boehly’s consortium are Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and property developer Jonathan Goldstein. Sir Martin Broughton believes as a former chairman of Liverpool he is uniquely qualified among the contenders, having steered through the sale of the Reds to Fenway Sports Group. He has added the political acumen of Lord Coe to his consortium.
Woody Johnson, who owns New York Jets, is also expected to make an official offer. It is understood contenders with experience of sports club ownership will be preferred.
Bids are expected to be in the region of £2.5bn, but it is not the case that the highest offer will automatically win. Raine will shortlist two or three candidates and that could be decided over the weekend.
Raine must be certain of the funding of any bid it puts forward — and also the future intentions. It has been notable how many interested parties have come up with fan-friendly proposals that could tip the balance in their favour.
Chelsea supporter and property tycoon Nick Candy has promised to appoint a fan to the board, if successful, and plans a £1.5bn renovation of Stamford Bridge.
Yesterday, London-based investors Aethel Partners became the latest to join the race, and are prepared to bid £2bn. The Saudi Media-led consortium are claimed to have bid £2.7bn.
