Clearlake Capital Group is set to take full control of Chelsea after agreeing to buy out the minority stakes held by Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, marking a major shift in the club’s ownership structure. Chelsea confirmed the move on Wednesday and Boehly will pack up his chairman’s office once it is made. The deal is reportedly around £950m ($1.27 billion) in stakes, or about a quarter of the Premier League club’s worth.
Clearlake, an equity firm founded by Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, has teamed with another minority shareholder, Hansjörg Wyss, to buy up the shares. However, Chelsea said fans should not expect that the new ownership control will bring in changes at the club’s helm right away.
Chelsea said there will be no changes to the day to day running, leadership or strategy of the club. It was a makeover of the ownership block that assumed control of Chelsea in May 2022 after the sale of the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. It was reported that the consortium (Boehly, Walter, Clearlake and Wyss) paid £4.25 billion for the club.
Boehly, who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball, was also proud to have served as chairman of Chelsea, and spoke highly of Clearlake and the rest of the ownership group. Boehly said it has been an honour to serve as chairman and he is confident that under Clearlake’s leadership, the club has found itself in an enviable position for continuing success.
The transfer move follows the Premier League restart for Chelsea this season. Sitting sixth after two wins, one draw and one defeat from their first four league games, the London outfit have failed to qualify for the playoffs under the new points and goal rule.The London club, who have registered two victories and one draw from their first four league games, have missed the playoffs under the new points and goal rule.
