Roman Abramovich has instructed American bank the Raine Group to handle the sale of Chelsea.
It is understood that Russian is targeting American buyers as investment from China, the Far East, and Eastern Europe has dried up for clear political reasons, although there are major doubts that any potential buyer will meet his £3 billion valuation.
The Raine Group first acted for Chelsea in 2018 after talks with US private equity firm Silverlake and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe broke up without reaching an agreement.
The club has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich’s conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell.
Chelsea declined to comment. Abramovich wants a minimum of £3 billion to sell Chelsea as he invites bids for the club.
But there are emerging doubts that the Russian oligarch will receive anywhere near that mark.
There is a sense that securing an American buyer, potentially through a hedge fund, might be the best route towards a sale. But Abramovich’s links with a Russian regime that has caused so much destruction in Ukraine could lead to reluctance from interested parties to deal with Chelsea.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer questioned Boris Johnson in Parliament on why Abramovich hasn’t yet faced sanctions, with the Prime Minister saying: ‘It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases at this stage’
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, worth £4.3 billion, claims he has been approached to consider buying Chelsea, potentially as part of a consortium.
Speaking to Swiss newspaper Blick, Wyss said: ‘Like all other oligarchs, he (Abramovich) is also in a panic. Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
‘I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion.
‘As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price. I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners. But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.’
However, there is doubt whether a consortium style takeover would have longevity given the huge financial demands expected at a club the size of Chelsea.
Nevertheless, it is clear now that Abramovich is preparing his Chelsea exit strategy.
It emerged on Tuesday that Abramovich is trying to sell his portfolio of London properties.
And Sportsmail has now learned that the Russian oligarch has spent time in the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks with a view to transferring part of his wealth there.
But any hopes of a quick sale of Chelsea remains in the balance due to what will be a reluctance of any interested parties to go anywhere near the absolute minimum £3 billion Abramovich wants.
Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth north of £3 billion – as much as £4 billion – but the likelihood of receiving such offers appears remote.
It seems inevitable that the Russian businessman will have to lower his expectations, but whether anyone is willing to offer as high as the £3 billion that he would consider is unclear.
Abramovich attempted to step back from the daily running of Chelsea on Saturday, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Blues boss has tried to hand the ‘stewardship and care’ of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation trustees.
That led the Charity Commission to contact the Stamford Bridge club for more detail on Abramovich’s plans, after several of the trustees raised concerns over technicalities.
Labour MP Chris Bryant has called for the UK Government to impose sanctions on Abramovich after a number of Russian oligarchs have already fallen under such penalties.
Abramovich is understood to have attempted to hand control of Chelsea to the foundation trustees in a bid to protect the club.
The Chelsea owner would not receive any protection from sanctions through stepping away from daily control at Stamford Bridge.
Sportsmail revealed on Tuesday that Chelsea trustees will insist on an impenetrable indemnity policy before agreeing to Abramovich’s plan to pass over stewardship of the club to its charitable foundation.
Abramovich’s proposal, which was announced on Saturday night, is in the balance with a number of trustees extremely apprehensive about accepting stewardship of the Stamford Bridge club.
And Sportsmail has learned that one of the main conditions the trustees will insist on is the inclusion of a robust indemnity insurance policy to ensure they are not liable for any financial ramifications the club may suffer while they are put in charge.
As we reported on Monday, trustees hold a number of concerns in relation to Abramovich’s plan, which was sprung on the trustees with very little notice on Saturday night.
Conflict of interest is understood to be among the key apprehensions, while the morality of being the face of a football club and business that has been linked to the Russian regime that has invaded Ukraine is another major consideration for trustees.
However, the sheer responsibility of playing such a key role within a business that turned over £434.8million for the previous financial year is known to be the leading concern amongst a number of trustees.
As we revealed, Chelsea has instructed lawyers to start building the legal framework to facilitate Abramovich’s stewardship recommendation and those individuals in line will seek a strong protection policy before agreeing.
During the interim there will be a period of status quo, which will allow trustees who include: Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, John Devine, a partner at the law firm Muckle LLP, club director of finance Paul Ramos, women’s head coach Emma Hayes, executive director of anti-discrimination group Fare, Piara Powar, and the chairman of the British Olympic Association, Sir Hugh Robertson, time to consider whether they want to be part of the process.
Chelsea are aware of the problems they may face in convincing trustees and are said to be exploring other options.
Sportsmail reported on Monday that Chelsea have been asked to prove Abramovich’s move does not represent a breach of the foundation’s charitable status.
Abramovich’s spokesperson said on Monday that the Russian-Israeli businessman was attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Swiss billionaire Wyss, who founded medical device firm Synthes USA, insisted he could only consider a deal for Chelsea with a clutch of investment partners.
‘I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners,’ said Wyss. ‘But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone.
‘If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.’
Elsewhere, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel snapped on Tuesday as scrutiny intensified over Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea, with the manager insisting: ‘You have to stop asking me these questions. I have no answers’.
Tuchel fielded several questions on the ownership ahead of Wednesday night’s FA Cup trip to Luton before eventually saying: ‘Listen, listen, listen you have to stop, I’m not a politician.
‘You have to stop, honestly, I can only repeat it and I feel bad to repeat it because I’ve never experienced war.
‘So even to talk about it I feel bad because I’m very privileged – I sit here in peace. I do the best I can but you have to stop asking me these questions because I have no answers for you.’
A clearly frustrated Tuchel then slapped the table after being asked for his opinion on the conflict and Abramovich’s current status as owner of Chelsea.
Tuchel earlier said his side ‘are calm at the centre of a storm… which we cannot control and are not responsible for’.
The German insisted the best he and his players can do is to ‘focus on what we love and do’ – as they did against Liverpool in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
‘I think we have a right to focus on sports,’ he said.
‘Everyone is aware of more important things and the situation is Ukraine is by far more important. We still arrived with two strong teams to play a fantastic match. We arrived still to entertain the fans with a match of maximum effort and entertainment. I don’t know what we could do different.’
Meanwhile, fierce fighting is underway in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv this morning after Russian paratroopers dropped in and attacked a military hospital before airstrikes targeting police, state agencies, and the security service.
Part of Karazin National University was on fire early Wednesday with the building partially collapsed after a missile – seemingly intended for the neighbouring police headquarters or interior ministry building – struck the college’s department of sociology instead.
At least 21 people have been killed an 112 wounded in shelling on Kharkiv in the last 24 hours, governor Oleg Synegubov said, as an interior ministry official added: ‘There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit.’
It came as the Russian army renewed its assault on Ukraine after punishing losses in the early days. Putin’s forces captured the centre of Kherson, in the south, overnight though Ukraine retained overall control of the city, while Mariupol, also in the south, came under renewed shelling and Zhytomyr, to the west of Kyiv, was hit by an airstrike.
Ukraine’s armed forces said Wednesday morning that Russia is ‘trying to advance in all directions’ but are ‘being resisted everywhere and suffering losses’. It estimates that 5,840 Russian troops have been killed so far – though that figure cannot be verified.
Source: Daily Mail
