More than 300 expressions of interest have been submitted to the Raine Group, the New York merchant bank hired by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich to locate a buyer for his nurtured Premier League's Chelsea FC, ESPN reported adding that at least 10 are considered genuine parties.
According to the report, RedBird Capital Partners, a NYC-based private equity firm is one of several American firms evaluating the feasibility of a bid for the Champions League holders team, which is reportedly valued at £3 billion ($3.97 billion).
RedBird in March 2021 bought an 11% stake in Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox. RedBird has been looking into buying a European football team in recent months, and Abramovich's decision to sell has alerted the group to the possibility of buying one of the biggest names in the game.
Michael Rubin, the owner of the sports merchandising company Fanatics, was also working on a proposal, according to the outlet's sources. A Rubin spokesperson, however, claimed that the businessman allegedly has no plans to bid and is solely focused on Fanatics.
According to ESPN, Todd Boehly, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers, is working with Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss to structure a bid ahead of Raine Group's March 15 deadline for first signs of an offer.
The outlet noted that the Raine Group brokered a deal in 2019 that saw American investment group Silver Lake buy a $500 million interest in Premier League champions Manchester City.
Raine Group is expected to get a 1.5% commission from the sale. According to the report, the efforts to find a buyer for the Denver Broncos, led by New York-based investment bank Allen & Company, are assisting in the identification of potential purchasers for Chelsea. Despite that the sales are unrelated, both teams are thought to be of equal value to extremely high net worth investors wishing to buy into a globally-recognized sporting brand.
Abramovich purchased Chelsea in 2003. In 2012, the London club won the Champions League for the first time in its history. In 2021, Chelsea were able to get to the top again and became the best club of Europe.
Earlier, Conor McGregor, a UFC fighter, entered the bidding war, expressing his wish to acquire the club for 1.5 billion pounds.
Abramovich declared that he would hand over "stewardship and care" of Chelsea to charitable foundation trustees and later initiate the sale amid tensions between the West and Russia arising from the Kremlin’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine and the retaliatory sanctions imposed by Western countries.