Although there has been no official announcement from the Boehly group, Chelsea or Raine, the bank responsible for the sale, sources told the Telegraph Sport that the American has been confirmed as the club’s preferred buyer. The Telegraph Sport unveiled for the first time exclusively Boehly’s offer to buy Chelsea on the same day that Roman Abramovich officially put the club up for sale in early March. After nearly two months of bidding, the two selected Boehly competitors, Stephen Pagliuca and Sir Martin Broughton, were informed on Friday that they would not be the preferred buyers – on the same day that Ratcliffe submitted an 11-hour bid by 4.25 £ bn. Ratcliffe’s bid, which was submitted on Friday morning, caused confusion over the sale process as to whether Chelsea and Raine would actually let him in through the back door after weeks of negotiations with the other three qualifying teams. . However, Pagliuca and Broughton experts expected Boehly to be named as the preferred bidder, with sources close to the process telling the Telegraph Sport that Ratcliffe’s bid had come too late to be promoted immediately. The Boehly consortium includes Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, Mark Walter, British businessman Jonathan Goldstein and investment firm Clearlake Capital. Daniel Finkelstein and Barbara Charone are next in line to become non-executive board members. Chelsea, Raine and the Boehly group have not commented on Ratcliffe’s situation or offer, with further talks between Chelsea and Raine taking place before any official announcements are made after the weekend. However, sources have assured the Telegraph Sport that Chelsea have now given Boehly the title of preferred bidder and that Ratcliffe’s only return route would be if this deal somehow collapsed.
