LONDON, April 12: Final bids are being prepared for European champion Chelsea and new business figures are being added to consortia as the process to end the ownership of sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich steps up.
Four known bids are still under consideration to buy Chelsea, which could be sold for 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) given the interest that has emerged since Abramovich put the west London Premier League club up for sale six weeks ago.
Steve Pagliuca, co-owner of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, went public for the first time on Tuesday to confirm his plans to become a Premier League team owner that could see him have to relinquish his 55% controlling stake in Serie A team Atalanta.
The American cannot control two clubs playing in the same UEFA-organized European competition, though Atalanta is not in qualifying contention for next season.
“Later this week, we will submit a substantial and credible bid proposal,” Pagliuca said in a statement.
Another bid, which is led by Chicago Cubs baseball owner Tom Ricketts, has been shrouded in criticism over Islamophobic comments by his father, Joe, that featured in leaked emails three years ago.
The Ricketts family has been working to distance itself from the patriarch, and another business leader was announced on Tuesday as a new leading figure involved in the bid.
Karan Bilimoria, a Chelsea fan who founded the Cobra beer company in 1989 and sits in the House of Lords, will become director of the club if the Ricketts bid is successful, and serve as an ambassador. Bilimoria is the outgoing president of the Confederation of British Industry. “We have always been clear that having local expertise and perspectives on our bid is vital,” Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “Given Lord Bilimoria’s unparalleled credentials and his love for Chelsea, he is the perfect addition to our team.”
A rival bid features an existing American investor in a Premier League team: Josh Harris owns a 17% stake in Crystal Palace. Harris is part of a consortium fronted by former Liverpool and British Airways chairman Martin Broughton and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
A fourth consortium features Todd Boehly, part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, and Jonathan Goldstein, a London-based property investor who is CEO of Cain International. (AP)
