ONE of Britain’s richest men Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made a late £4.25BILLION bid to buy Chelsea.
The London club had whittled down interested parties to three – but now Ratcliffe has added his name into the mix.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has launched a sensational £4.25bn bid to buy ChelseaCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
Roman Abramovich is believed to want £2.5bn for the club he bought in 2003 – now Ratcliffe has blown that figure out of the water.
According to The Times, the 69-year-old Ineos chief, who grew up supporting Manchester United, spoke to Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck yesterday.
It is believed £1.75bn of the offer will be to upgrade the team and stadium.
A statement read: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of Ineos, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25bn. £2.5bn is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75bn committed to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.
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“This is a British bid, for a British club.
“We believe that a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition. With responsibility to the fans and the community.
“That is why we are committing to spending £1.75bn over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club.
“We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC.
“This will be organic and ongoing so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.
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“We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first class squad of the world’s greatest players, coaches and support staff, in the men’s and women’s games.
“And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first class players.
“We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city. One that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club.
“We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game – not as a means to turn a profit. We do that with our core businesses. The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason.
“No further comment will be made from Sir Jim or INEOS during the bidding process.”
It was also reported that the bids led by Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton were ruled out of the running.
Ratcliffe is a Stamford Bridge season ticket holder and one of Britain’s richest men, valued at around £6.33bn by The Sunday Times Rich List.
That is a massive drop from more than £21bn in 2018.
SunSport revealed his interest in March before he initially decided against submitting an offer – and then came his dramatic U-turn.
His late bid with Ineos pals Andy Currie and John Reece, sent directly to the Raine Group handling the sale, went in this morning after he held talks with the UK Government, who will sanction the transaction.
Sir Jim believes he is in a position to hand over the full £4bn as early as this weekend if required.
An imminent announcement on the successful bidder is expected in the coming days.
Until this 11th-hour bombshell, the winner looked set to come from the three remaining consortiums.
The bidders being considered are consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca.
Boehly owns MLB franchise the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Broughton’s bid is backed by Josh Harris and David Blitzer who co-own Crystal Palace as well as Lord Coe, Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams.
Pagliuca co-owns Italian side Atalanta and basketball team the Boston Celtics.
They are backed by the True Blues, a fan-led group involving Chelsea legend John Terry who want to buy ten per cent of the club.
But The Telegraph report Pagliuca has been informed he is not the preferred bidder.
Each bidder was told this week they would need to stump up an extra £500m.
Ratcliffe – who made his billions in petrochemicals – was linked with taking over Chelsea in 2019.
But he decided against it at the time because the stadium redevelopment plans would take too long to resolve.
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The Mancunian has already spent £110million on Ineos Team UK, the America’s Cup sailing team, and rebranded cycling group Team Sky.
He also bought Swiss football team FC Lausanne-Sport as well as French outfit Nice.
