The consortium led by Todd Boehly are in discussions over fresh rules to their takeover of Chelsea, which have been designed to steer the Blues away from the same issues faced by Manchester United under the ownership of the Glazer family, The Glazers took control of United in 2005 in a deal which saddled the Red Devils with a huge debt, while the owners have also continued to take huge sums out of the club in dividends and from the sales of new shares – leaving them wildly unpopular among fans. According to Sky News, Boehly could agree to specific preventative measures which would forbid him or Clearlake Capital, the private equity firm behind the deal, from doing anything similar.
The group are in advanced negotiations with Chelsea advisers over an agreement which includes: barring them from paying dividends or management fees until 2032, prohibiting the sale of any shares in the club for ten years and agreeing to strict limits on the level of debt that they could take on. Dubbed ‘anti-Glazer clauses’ by some close to the deal, the latest requests from Raine are centred around protecting the long-term future of Chelsea, with current owner Roman Abramovich keen to hand control of the club to someone with a lucrative plan.
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Boehly is expected to begin the process of signing contracts on Friday, once these measures have been addressed and agreed upon.
Abramovich has quashed rumours that he could delay the sale in pursuit of a repayment of the £1.6bn debt Chelsea have racked up to him over the years, insisting he still wants to donate the money to charity but must figure out the legality of doing so. The UK government, who are set to receive £2.5bn from Boehly’s consortium to complete the takeover, will temporarily freeze the £1.6bn owed to Abramovich while the matter is addressed, allowing Chelsea to get on with their business.
Source: https://www.blacksundiamondblognews.com/search/label/Sports
