Change but no change at Chelsea

The buy out of the minority owners at Chelsea should enable the club to be run more smoothly.   Long-term challenges remain, notably whether to redevelop or replace Stamford Bridge to boost matchday revenue.

No agreement is expected imminently, but the sale would provide a form of resolution to long-standing tensions among Chelsea’s owners while also potentially easing the regulatory pressure that Walter is facing in the United States.

None of the principal parties are commenting, but it is very difficult to view this development as unrelated to Mark Walter’s unexpected sale of the LA Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger in a deal that valued the NBA franchise at $12.5billion (£9.2bn) last week. 

That news — just 14 months after Walter had bought a controlling interest in the Lakers from the Buss family at a then-record $10billion valuation — broke against the backdrop of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the 66-year-old billionaire’s business dealings. 

Boehly was one of Walter’s partners in his brief Lakers venture, as well as in their hugely successful ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. From Boehly’s perspective, this could simply present a good opportunity to exit from Chelsea, an investment that has not panned out as he envisaged when he publicly fronted the BlueCo consortium that purchased the club from Roman Abramovich in June 2022. 

Despite maintaining a public profile with appearances at Stamford Bridge and on stage at various business conferences, Boehly has not enjoyed functional operational control over Chelsea since 2022, with decision-makers at majority shareholder Clearlake Capital directing the club’s strategy and the firm’s co-founder Behdad Eghbali actively involved in all major decisions. 

The £2.5billion takeover from Abramovich granted a majority shareholding to Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano’s Clearlake Capital, which, today, owns 61.85 per cent of the shares in 22 Holdco Limited, the UK-based holding company that oversees Chelsea and Ligue 1 side Strasbourg.

The remaining 38.15 per cent is held by Blueco 22 Holdings LP, a UK-registered limited partnership. Six partners make up that partnership: CFCB, LLC, controlled by Boehly; SME FC Holdings, LLC, controlled by Walter; Hansjorg Wyss as anIt has been made clear that the relationship between Clearlake and Boehly has remained a professional one despite any differences of opinion. However, when Boehly and Eghbali attend matches at Stamford Bridge, observers have noticed that they do not watch them together and stay in their own boxes in the West Stand.    individual, and two further entities affiliated with him; and Greenelite CFC, LLC, a Delaware-registered business whose controlling owner is unknown.

That 38.15 per cent is not split evenly, with only Boehly and Walter, along with Eghbali and Feliciano on the Clearlake side, listed as having a ‘significant interest’ in Chelsea under Premier League rules. It means each of Boehly and Walter beneficially owns at least 10 per cent of the club, while Wyss and whoever heads Greenelite split the rest.

On the assumption that Boehly and Walter own a third each of Blueco 22 Holdings LP, each would own a 12.7 per cent beneficial stake in Chelsea. In other words, a little over a quarter of the club might be about to change hands.

It has been made clear that the relationship between Clearlake and Boehly has remained a professional one despite any differences of opinion. However, when Boehly and Eghbali attend matches at Stamford Bridge, observers have noticed that they do not watch them together and stay in their own boxes in the West Stand. 

Not a great deal will change, to be honest at Chelse. While Boehly has held sign-off on all decisions, his input into how things are run has reduced dramatically over the years.  Boehly had a big influence on the first transfer window following the takeover in May 2022 when he was interim sporting director. But he has taken much more of a back seat since full-time sporting directors were put in place. 

On buying the club, clauses were put in place that shares could not be sold to those outside the consortium for 10 years. This means only Clearlake and Wyss can buy Boehly’s or Walter’s stake. Should Clearlake increase its share from 61.85 per cent, it will just further cement the fact that its decision-makers are the ones running the show.