Saudi Media Group ‘are OUT of the race to purchase Chelsea’

The £3billion battle to buy Chelsea intensified on Thursday night with Roman Abramovich’s sales advisors dismissing several bidders from the process. 

The Raine Group are understood to have told a number of would-be buyers, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, the Saudi Media Group and Turkish businessman Muhsin Barak, that their bids will not make it onto a shortlist that looks like being dominated by American billionaires who already own sports franchises in the United States.

While Raine have yet to produce an official short-list the field appears to have narrowed considerably. 

The consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, whose Swiss partner Hansjorg Wyss first alerted the world to Abramovich’s decision to put Chelsea up for auction, are set to make it through to the next stage with their main competition appearing to come from a larger American group funded by Crystal Palace shareholders, Josh Harris and David Blitzer. 

Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton and fellow Chelsea fan Lord Coe have been presented as the public face of that bid, although the bulk of the funding is believed to be coming from Philadelphia 76ers owner Harris and another major figure from the NBA, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.

British property developer Nick Candy, whose Blue Football Consortium contains backing from South Korean financial institutions and a tie-up with Gianluca Vialli’s investment fund, is hopeful of staying in the race, although there was uncertainty over the status of a bid from the Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise. 

The Ricketts bid has led to protests from some Chelsea fans as a result of anti-Muslim comments made by the family patriarch, Joe Ricketts, in 2019, but their partnership with hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin has made their offer financially attractive to Abramovich.

On a day of considerable confusion and some acrimony a number of the disappointed bidders are understood to have contacted Raine demanding explanations for being ruled out, which delayed the process of beginning the next round of the auction and caused frustration elsewhere. 

Raine are also believed to have encouraged some of the competing groups to merge and pool their efforts in an attempt to secure a bigger fee that will also be politically acceptable to the government. 

Candy is understood to have been approached by several parties, including the Ricketts family, about a joint venture with talks continuing on Thursday night.

The Raine Group have not publicly confirmed the make-up of their short-list, but several of the other bidders have been ruled out. 

London-based investment firm Centricus were the last to go public with what was pitched as an all-British bid last Sunday, but have not made the cut despite teaming up with hedge fund manager Jonathan Lourie of Cheyne Capital and Talis Capital’s Bob Finch. 

Lourie, Finch and Centricus’ co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam and CEO Garth Ritchie are all season-ticket holders at Stamford Bridge, although that does appear to have helped them stand out in a race in which the Candy and Broughton/Coe bids have made much of appealing to and representing Chelsea fans.

Another London-based private equity form Aethel Partners, who pledged an immediate cash injection of £50m to help Chelsea finish the season while the sale was progressing, have also been ruled out with Abramovich and his advisors preferring to deal with private buyers rather than financial institutions.

Whoever buys Chelsea will require the government’s consent in the form of a special licence to proceed with the sale, as well as to gain the approval of the Premier League by passing its owners and directors test. 

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said earlier this month that the shortest time in which they have ever sanctioned a sale is 10 days, although the Saudi Arabian-funded purchase of Newcastle United last year took 17 weeks to process after previous owner Mike Ashley had agreed to sell, which followed a lengthy legal battle.

The Saudi Media Group claimed that their bid for Chelsea did not include any state funding, but Abramovich’s need for a quick sale and the Premier League’s sensitivity to fears of a conflict of interest counted against them. 

A successful bid by the Harris/Blitzer group would also bring some complications as they would need to sell their 36 per cent stake in Palace, although there would be no shortage of interest given Patrick Vieira’s side have all-but guaranteed their Premiership survival for another year.

The hesitancy from Harris and Blitzer to confirm their involvement in the bid is due to concerns over how the Palace fan-base may react to the news, particularly if their bid ultimately fails. 

Nevertheless, their position, despite the lack of public confirmation, as the main financial contributors, is now clear. 

It remains to be seen how long the process of divesting their shares in the Selhurst Park will take and whether that will play factor in the final stages of the electing the preferred bidder.