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The real financial muscle behind the Chelsea deal

Though Todd Boehly’s name headlines most coverage of the Chelsea deal, the money mostly comes from his partner, Clearlake Capital. The private equity firm’s funds are contributing over 60 per cent of the deal’s equity and hold equal ownership rights.

Co-founded in 2006 by billionaires José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, Clearlake is one of the fastest-growing buyout firms in the world with a strategy of buying niche industrial, consumer and software companies and growing them by bolstering profits and striking acquisitions.

It manages more than $75bn in assets, of which $25bn was taken in over the past year. Since 2020, the firm’s deal machine has kicked into overdrive, striking more than 100 acquisitions, becoming one of the most active buyers of midsized companies in the US.

Feliciano and Eghbali grew close to Boehly who was looking for a financial partner to bid on Chelsea, a team he’d been looking to buy for years.

Clearlake will be an active co-owner, seeking to expand Chelsea’s reach globally through new media and technology investments, sources familiar with their thinking have told the Financial Times. To accelerate this growth, Clearlake also may bring in specialised financial partners in areas like media distribution.

  

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