Boehly closes in on Chelsea deal despite Ratcliffe’s late move

AMERICAN tycoon Todd Boehly is set to become Chelsea’s new owner despite a last-gasp attempt to hijack the process by Britain’s richest man. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of petrochemicals company Ineos, yesterday made an offer which he said would include an investment of £1.75billion over ten years to develop Stamford Bridge in addition to the £2.5bn valuation of the club — meaning the total offer is worth £4.25bn. But Boehly’s group have won the race to become preferred bidder for the club and have been given the green light to close a deal understood to be worth £3.5bn. Fellow US businessman Steve Pagliuca was yesterday told that his group were out of the race, while sources close to the final remaining consortium led by British tycoon Sir Martin Broughton also indicated that they were unsuccessful. Boehly will now have a period of time — understood to be between five and seven days — to ratify an exclusivity agreement and press ahead with the takeover.

If that time passes, Ratcliffe’s 11th-hour attempts to gazump the remaining bidders could come into play. Ratcliffe’s offer to buy the club from Roman Abramovich has infuriated the three shortlisted parties, who have been involved in the bidding process since its inception. Indeed, there was some confusion last night over whether Ratcliffe’s offer could even be legally considered by Raine — the New York-based bank facilitating the sale — under the terms of the process. A statement from Ineos read: ‘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. We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea. This will be organic and on-going so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.’