Roman Abramovich has reached an agreement for the sale of Chelsea for 5.2 billion dollars to the consortium led by Todd Boehly. This is how the long era of the Russian oligarch at the helm of the London club is about to end.

"The sale of the club is expected to be completed at the end of May, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, further details will be provided at that time," Chelsea said.

Abramovich put the world champion club on the market, virtually forced , in March, just days before he was hit by British government sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine .

After a lengthy bidding process involving several groups, Boehly and his fellow investors were chosen by the Raine Group, the New York-based bank that oversees the sale of the Blues. Boehly's group of investors includes Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter, Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss and US investment fund Clearlake Capital.

"Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss , to acquire the club," the company said. "From the total investment made, two and a half billion pounds will be used to purchase the Club's shares and that proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention of donating 100% to charitable causes, as confirmed. by Roman Abramovich. UK government approval will be required to transfer the proceeds from the frozen bank account to the UK itself.

The new owners would have pledged to spend £ 1.75 billion on additional investments for the benefit of the company. To date, after the Russian oligarch was forced to put the club up for sale, Chelsea have operated under a special government license.

Abramovich will now not be able to profit from the Chelsea sale, but he had already promised to cancel the club's £ 1.5 billion debt and that all proceeds from the sale would go to the victims of the war in Ukraine .

(Unioneonline / L)

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