Sir Jim Ratcliffe Makes an Offer to Buy Chelsea
The richest man in Great Britain has made a $5.3 billion offer to buy the English football club Chelsea on Friday. If accepted, it would signify the highest amount ever paid for a sports franchise.
According to the English outlet The Mirror, the Englishman, who is the owner of the enormous petrochemical INEOS Ratcliffe, submitted the proposal on Friday morning to the Raine Group, the New York-based merchant bank managing the sale.
After the event, the British man conceded an interview to the English newspaper The Times where he admitted he made the bid for the West London club.
“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,” Ratcliffe said. “Our motives are simply to try and create a very fine club in London. We have no profit motive because we make our money in other ways.”
According to the New York Times, the head of INEOS agreed to allocate $3.1 billion of his investment to a charitable trust to support the victims of the war in Ukraine and $2.1 billion to invest in the English club over the next 10 years.
“We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city,” he explained. “One that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club.”
Ratcliffe is now in competition with three other investment groups to take control of Chelsea. The groups are led by: co-owner of the LA Dodgers Todd Boehly; Crystal Palace minority owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer; and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca.
News of Ratcliffe’s bid came following reports that the Boehly led group had entered into an exclusive negotiating window with the club. While the 69 year old may be late to the party, it’s obvious he hopes that his astronomical figure, coupled with his “keep it English” narrative, will be enough to sway the sale his way.
Late Friday evening, The Telegraph reported that Boehly’s group had won the preferred bid race, however the club has to make an official announcement regarding the sale.
As reported by Forbes Magazine, Ratcliffe is worth £12.1 billion and he is the 124th richest man in the world. Additionally, he owns the football clubs OGC Nice and FC Lausanne, as well as having a close partnership with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Chelsea is next in action against Everton on Sunday in the Premier League.
-Matheus Teles
Photo: Science History Institute. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.