Bloomberg, citing well-informed sources, reported disagreements over the sale by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich of London’s Chelsea football club to a consortium of American businessman Todd Boely.
The subject of these disagreements was the condition according to which the club must repay the debt to Abramovich.
As it became known earlier this month, a group of businessmen led by Todd Boely, his company Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss reached an agreement to acquire Chelsea for 4.25 billion pounds (5.2 billion dollars). Of this amount, 2.5 billion pounds sterling should be used to purchase shares in the club, and 1.75 billion pounds the new owners have pledged to invest in the development of the club.
In order for the deal to take place, it must be approved by the UK government. Meanwhile, the government has not agreed to the terms of the change in ownership of the club, according to which Chelsea must pay off a debt to Abramovich in the amount of 1.6 billion pounds.
Buyers of the London club do not intend to refuse to purchase it and want to close the deal before May 31, when Chelsea’s license expires. If this does not happen, the license will not be renewed. This means that the team with a high degree of probability will not be able to take part in the next season of the English Premier League.
Previously, many countries imposed sanctions on Abramovich in connection with military operations in Ukraine, after which he put Chelsea up for sale, giving all control over the deal to the British government.
