Chelsea shareholders ready to sell stakes in major ownership shake-up

US financiers Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are in talks to sell their stakes in Chelsea Football Club to majority owner Clearlake Capital, according to people familiar with the matter.

Any agreement could help ease long-running tensions within the Premier League club’s ownership group, which acquired Chelsea for £2.5 billion in 2022 after Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club following sanctions imposed on him in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

Since the takeover, Boehly and Walter’s side of the consortium has repeatedly clashed with Clearlake over the club’s strategy. Although Clearlake owns more than 60% of Chelsea, it shares joint control and equal governance of the club with Boehly, who serves as its chairman.

The latest talks follow years of intermittent negotiations between the two sides, although it remains unclear whether they will ultimately reach an agreement, according to the people.

The renewed negotiations also come as Walter has been seeking to sell other high-profile assets while his wider business empire faces increasing regulatory scrutiny.

US prosecutors are investigating Walter’s insurance companies, which formed the foundation of his rapid rise on Wall Street, after disclosures showed that insurers under his control had provided loans to related parties without disclosing their connections to the borrowers. The insurers are now moving to sell affiliated investments or repay the loans.

Last week, Walter agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion to former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, less than a year after acquiring the basketball team.

Under the ownership of Clearlake and Boehly, Chelsea won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Europa Conference League last year, the third tier of European club competition.

The club, however, has struggled in the Premier League, finishing 10th last season and missing out on qualification for lucrative European competitions.

By Jeyhun Aghazada