British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes late bid to buy Chelsea
He has submitted a £4.25 billion bid for the Premier League club
Last updated 29th Apr 2022
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made a last-minute £4.25billion bid to buy Chelsea football club, putting him in the running to take the Stamford Bridge helm.
It’s understood that he held talks with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck on Thursday, before submitting what now represents the biggest offer for the Premier League club on Friday.
The 69-year-old explored a possible bid for the Blues back in 2019 but ended up buying the French club Nice instead.
He is also chairman and founder of the global chemical company Ineos, the fourth largest in the world.
Ratcliffe's previous due diligence on Chelsea will speed up the process of his bid, minimising any delays in the sale process headed up by New York merchant bank the Raine Group.
An Ineos statement read: "Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25bn.
“£2.5bn is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75bn committed to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.
"This is a British bid, for a British club"
We believe that a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition, with responsibility to the fans and the community.
"That is why we are committing to spending £1.75bn over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club, we will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC.
“This will be organic and ongoing so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.
"We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first-class squad of the world's greatest players, coaches, and support staff in the men's and women's games.
"And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first class players.
"We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city, one that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club.
"We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game - not as a means to turn a profit. We do that with our core businesses.
"The club is rooted in its community and its fans"
"And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason", it said.
Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton were both hoping to hear this week which of their offers to buy the club had been selected as the preferred bid.
But Ratcliffe's late entrance has added another bid to the battle to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagluica was told his proposal to take over at Stamford Bridge was unsuccessful.
Chelsea will still hope to have a new owner by the end of May, despite any delays that come from Ratcliffe's late entry.
Once the Raine Group selects a preferred bidder, the Government must then grant a new licence for the sale to be completed.
Chelsea was put up for sale by Abramovich on 2nd March, during Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine.
The 55-year-old was then sanctioned by the UK Government 10th March, with Downing Street claiming to have proven links between the Russian-Israeli billionaire and Vladimir Putin.
During Abramovich’s 19-year ownership of Chelsea, he has led the club to win 21 trophies.