British Billionaire Offered $5.3 Billion to Buy Chelsea, “Easily Rejected,” Dodgers Co-Owner Leads the Way?

Last Updated on 05/05/2022 by てんしょく飯

Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire who had come forward to buy Chelsea, but has revealed that his offer was rejected.

Chelsea’s license expires May 31; with less than a month to go, who on earth will be the owner?

Chelsea is currently owned by Roman Abramovich. However, following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the British government has frozen the assets of Abramovich, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, its leader.

Abramovich has publicly stated early on that he would sell Chelsea, and the British government would give permission for the sale of the club on the condition that it be in a form that Abramovich would not receive any proceeds.

A number of investors bid for the Chelsea acquisition, and Mr. Ratcliffe was one of them.

Ratcliffe is best known as the founder of Ineos, a multinational chemical company based in London. Mr. Ratcliffe apparently offered a $5.3 billion bid to acquire Chelsea, but his bid was rejected.

Tom Crotty, director of the Ineos Group, appeared by phone on “Bloomberg” in the U.S. and commented.

We were summarily rejected by Lane (the American banking group brokering the Chelsea sale). But I will keep reminding people that we are still here.”

A consortium led by American businessman Todd Baily, co-owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, is considered the frontrunner to sell Chelsea.

However, Ratcliffe is also planning to go head-to-head. He has already held initial discussions with the Chelsea Supporters Trust, which runs the club.

We will continue to be involved with the fan base,” Crotty said. We see ourselves as a bid by the fanbase,” said Crotty, who is planning to win over the Chelsea fans.

In addition, “Ineos” has been considering the acquisition of Chelsea for the past few years. However, it seems that they had postponed it because they could not see the sale price.

In any case, Chelsea’s license expires on May 31; with less than a month to go, who will be the owner? The worst-case scenario is that the club will go out of business, so all eyes will be on the future.