A new bid for Chelsea football club has been submitted, largely driven by Stamford Bridge season-ticket holders who confirmed on Sunday that they had made an offer.
The British-funded bid sees London-based asset management firm Centricus join forces with Cheyne Capital hedge fund manager Jonathan Lourie and Talis Capital’s Bob Finch who was once a majority shareholder of Danish outfit FC Nordsjaelland. Along with the aforementioned duo, Centricus’ co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam and CEO Garth Ritchie are all regulars at Chelsea home games.
The quartet pitched their offer to American merchant bank Raine Group who are currently overseeing the sale given Roman Abramovich is prohibited from any involvement and no profits made by the sale can go to the Russian oligarch. They emphasised how club director Marina Granovskaia would be part of their plans unless it was viewed as inappropriate given her own ties to Abramovich.
A statement confirming that a bid had been lodged read: "Centricus - the London-based global investment firm, confirm their official bid for the acquisition of Fordstam Limited (CFC Group), the parent company of Chelsea FC. Centricus will be committed to supporting the company and its key stakeholders to ensure its continued success."
The statement goes on to detail how Centricus would operate were their bid to be accepted by the Raine Group. "If our offer is successful, Centricus would be focused on ensuring that the CFC Group continues to achieve sporting excellence, high level of community support, transparent governance, financial stability, fan engagement and exemplary custodianship."
To be successful, this latest British-funded offer will have to beat proposals from a number of other key bidders including a US-based consortium spearheaded by American businessman Todd Boehly. British property tycoon Nick Candy is also looking to gain control of the club he has been a lifelong fan of.
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Candy's "Blue Football" consortium has teamed up with South Korean firm C&P Sports Group to fund their offer, with their CEO claiming: "We are preparing our bid. There has never been investment into a top tier football club made by South Korean capital before. It is time for a change."
Candy is thought to have held a private meeting with both Granovskaia and Bruce Buck after the recent 1-0 home win over Newcastle United to confirm that he has secured the funding to submit a bid. The Saudi Media Group are another key player in this fight for ownership status and have reportedly made a £2.7billion offer.
The Ricketts family, owners of Major League Baseball outfit the Chicago Cubs are another American-based offer the Raine Group will mull over. It is believed that their offer is stronger than the one proposed by Lord Sebastian Coe and Sir Martin Broughton who are also in contention.
Club legend John Terry is also involved in a takeover attempt as part of the True Blues consortium, with the Chelsea icon taking to Twitter to explain his intentions. "Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years.
"I want to see the club's history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is. Having met with and heard what The True Blues consortium is about, I know they understand.
"They're a group of lifelong Chelsea fans and season ticket holders who have created a concept that will complement and assist any preferred bidder running the club while adding fan connection and engagement with the board. This innovative structure is designed to be inclusive of all Chelsea fans to protect our club.
"I'm thankful for the Chelsea Pitch owners and Chelsea Supporters Trust's time and support on this, and we hope we will be welcomed investors into the Club's new structure."
