Todd Boehly and Mark Walters have completed the sale of their respective stakes in Chelsea to majority owner Clearlake Capital.
A club statement released Wednesday evening confirmed the news, ending Boehly’s four-year association with the club, which saw him serve a stint as sporting director. The sale of his stake also sees him vacate his role as club chairman.
The sale, reported to be worth around £1billion, sees both Boehly and Walters make a slight profit on their initial investments in the club and takes Chelsea’s value close to £5bn. Both men owned 12.8 per cent stakes in Chelsea.
The Clearlake consortium is run jointly by Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, who have teamed up with Hansjorg Wyss to buy out Boehly and Walters. Chelsea have confirmed Wyss “will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group.”
A club statement confirming the sale adds: “There will be no changes to the day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy at the Club.”
Boehly and Eghbali have butted heads for some time and disagreed on matters relating to the development of Stamford Bridge. The pair were unable to agree whether to redevelop the stadium on its existing tract of land or purchase land elsewhere to build a new ground from scratch. The situation may soon accelerate now Clearlake are in full control of the club.
Upon the sale of his shares, Boehly said: “It has been an honour to serve as Chairman of Chelsea Football Club. I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
