Roman Abramovich Thread

[Fulham Broadway 16,832]

23 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

All the more reason Tuchel needs to be pinned down long term. 

Would be good if he stayed -hard to say that we've had a more dynamic, intelligent manager.

'it's about winning and being the best you can,' Tuchel said about whoever the new owners are.. 'It's not about developing a project, or making money with the club. That's what I hope.'

Hope springs eternal...

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Vesper 28,772]

‘I am upset’: Potential bidder for Chelsea reacts on IG after latest developments in takeover story

https://peaceloaded.com/i-am-upset-potential-bidder-for-Chelsea-reacts-on-ig-after-latest-developments-in-takeover-story/

Catalina Kim has uploaded a rather cryptic message in response to the takeover process of Chelsea which is currently ongoing.

It was recently revealed that C&P Sports Group, of which Kim is the CEO, had joined Nick Candy’s consortium bid to buy the Blues.

Candy also acquired the services of Hana Financial Group, as he aimed to improve his previous offer of over £2billion (Sky Sports) submitted last Friday.
Evidence of the additional funds has made its way to The Raine Group, the merchant bank in charge of selecting Roman Abramovich’s empire.

A shortlist of candidates will now be drawn up, of which Candy is now likely to be a part of thanks to the South Korean investment.

However, Kim’s recent social media declaration suggested the proposal hadn’t been successful.

In a translated Instagram post, which she has since deleted, the football agent seemingly referenced the move for Chelsea as part of Candy’s team.

“Tomorrow is 2022 and Chelsea’s handkerchief. If it is the end of my move, I am so sorry and sorry to all of those who supported me,” she wrote.

“I am sorry to my partners in the consortium who believed in me and held my hand if we fall. Sign… How did we get here… I am upset.”

 

What does this mean for Nick Candy?

Make of that what you will, but it certainly sounds like Kim is accepting defeat.

We are yet to hear anything from Candy on this matter, yet the signs from one of his partners aren’t exactly positive.

If the consortium, led by the property developer and Chelsea fan, falls short, then it would clear the way for the other big-name players in the race.

The Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, are involved in the bidding war, as are Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss’ joint effort.

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is also in the running, as are reportedly the Saudi Media Group and global investment firm Centricus.

Take your pick Chelsea fans.

end

 

IF true,

this sucks, because look at what she was bringing in:

 

Quote

 

We are very much pleased with our additional investor to the #BlueFootballConsortium. It is another one of the largest finance corporations from South Korea with subsidiaries under such as retail bank, Securities, Insurance, Credit Card, Asset Management, Real Estate Trust, Data Systems etc. They also have an exceptional track record of running significant sports teams.

'The new investor Blue Football Consortium secured has strong ties to big Korean corporations and institutions such as: National Pension Service of Korea (a public pension fund in South Korea, the third largest in the world with $800 billion in assets); Korea Investment Corporation (sovereign wealth fund established by the government of South Korea in 2005 with c. $180m in assets under management), Samsung Group, Hyundai Group, LG Group, SK Group, E-land Group, Kakao Group (IT); Krafton (Gaming), Lotte Group, GS Group, Hanwha Group, Shinsegae Group, NC Soft (Gaming); Smilegate (Gaming) etc.

'The fund will come with strategic partners that every football club needs for its stable and continued success.

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,772]

51 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Is there anybody yet linked to us that doesn't have a public political position? I see it's even been reported that Wyss has been supporting political campaigns in the US even when his position I believe doesn't give him the chance to vote over there.

those two are the worst of the worst

[King Kante 1,474]

The Athletic indicated that they heard rumours of a US individual who could finance the deal him/herself (they didn't name him/her (probably because they were spoken to off record.))

In my opinion, those talking loudly in the press do not have much chance. I include Candy/Kim, Centricis and the Broughton/Coe bid in that. People with money generally don't go mouthing off about deals of this magnitude in the press, those that are, are just doing so for the press and/or because they want to draw public support for their bid.

Personally I would say forget those that have spoken quite openly. I mean, anyone remember how Roman came in? Literally wasn't reported until the day or two before the deal was sealed.

This transaction will be more public due to it's notoriety with Russia/Ukraine, however I am sure we will have a shortlist with someone that hasn't been reported yet/has gone very quite/not said much themselves. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by King Kante

[milka 3,344]

A bid from the Saudi Media Group is not considered to be among the frontrunners for #Chelsea.

The Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, are flying to London as part of their bid to buy Chelsea Football Club (via @SkySportsNews ) 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by milka

[Vesper 28,772]

IF the Ricketts buy us, there is a decent chance I stop supporting the club.

Dead serious.

I cannot stress how ACTIVELY RW, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, pro rentier/rapacious capitalism, pro christo-fascist that family is, and they contribute millions to help spread it politically in the United States. Nebraska  Governor Pete Ricketts is one of the most RW state governors in the US.

All the decades of hard work that Roman did to support inclusiveness, oppose hate and racism, etc, will be put at risk. 

Just putting this out there so all know where I stand, and how serious I am.

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,296]

In fear of fan outrage, I can't see the club agreeing the sale to the Ricketts. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,476]

 

[manpe 10,861]

I only care about results on the pitch. I don't know anything about any of the bidding parties. Can anybody tell me who, in your opinion, would be the best owner for us in terms of ensuring results in games?

[ZAPHOD2319 4,476]

9 minutes ago, Hermione said:

I read somewhere Saudi one didn't made the cut off and instead that moronic Woody did, seriously hope Bruce drops dead on his feet if he got bribed to accept certain people, there is no way you can't find some of them are complete morons just by the search of a google.

The scary part is Woody is a single owner bid. All his money.

[Vesper 28,772]

18 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

The scary part is Woody is a single owner bid. All his money.

and he is a SHIT owner, terrible

the Jets have been a laughingstock for ages under him

he just milks them for that New York market captive cash

[Vesper 28,772]

11 hours ago, manpe said:

I only care about results on the pitch. I don't know anything about any of the bidding parties. Can anybody tell me who, in your opinion, would be the best owner for us in terms of ensuring results in games?

Centricus

Todd Boehly 

Nick Candy

Martin Broughton

Saudi Media

 

all 5 of those groups would be fine I think

Centricus looks really good, almost all involved are rabid Chels fans and they have huge backing (tbh, all 5 of those groups do)

Edited March 23, 2022 by Vesper

[Alabama 1,992]

Either Saudi media or Centricus for me... the rest can go fukc all...

[Vesper 28,772]

Chelsea likely to fetch highest price ever paid for a sports team after more than 20 parties make bids

https://theathletic.com/3202316/2022/03/22/Chelsea-likely-to-fetch-highest-price-ever-paid-for-a-sports-team-after-more-than-20-parties-make-bids/

 

Chelsea are likely to fetch the highest price ever paid for a sports club or franchise after more than 20 interested parties made bids for the Premier League side last week.

Current owner Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale on March 2, six days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started. The 55-year-old oligarch appointed New York-based merchant bank Raine Group to run the sales process and it is understood that he was hoping for a figure north of £3.5 billion.

That, however, looked unlikely when he was added to the British government’s list of sanctioned individuals on March 10, due to what it described as his longstanding and close relationship with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

With Abramovich sanctioned, Chelsea became a frozen asset. The need for a quick sale — with government involvement — combined with uncertainty about how to value a club who have been so generously subsidised by their owner for 19 years but still needs to redevelop their stadium, led most football finance experts to predict a price tag closer to £2 billion.

But that appears to have underestimated the global interest in buying the reigning and European and world champions, and it now seems the club’s many suitors will have to raise their bids closer to £3 billion ($4 billion) — a sum that would easily beat the $3.35 billion (£2.5 billion) Joseph Tsai paid for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center home arena in 2019.

That is the largest cheque ever written for a sports franchise until now, with the next biggest deals — baseball’s New York Mets, Houston Rockets of the NBA and NFL franchise the Carolina Panthers — grouped around the $2 billion mark.

The highest price ever paid for a football team is still the £790 million the Glazer family spent buying Manchester United shares between 2003 and 2005.

The Athletic understands bids for Chelsea were still arriving over the weekend, despite Raine setting a deadline of 9pm UK time on Friday. None of those offers, however, are considered to be a credible option, given the scale of the transaction and the unprecedented circumstances of the sale.

Raine is aiming to whittle down the bidders to a shortlist of three or four by the end of this week. Those parties will then be invited to make improved final offers, with a winner chosen by the second week in April.

The bank will then ask the UK government for a second licence — an exemption from the UK’s sanctions rules — to allow the sale of the asset. This effectively gives the Foreign Office and Treasury a veto over the deal, another complicating factor in the process.

That said, the government has already made it clear it does not want to see Chelsea go out of business, so a quick but orderly change of ownership is the desired outcome.

Chelsea are not a confiscated asset, though, so Abramovich still has a say in the process and it is understood Raine has been instructed to select the best bid, not necessarily the biggest, with the Russian wanting Chelsea to go to a group or individual with a proven track record, a vision for the club and easy access to funds.

As Abramovich is currently banned from benefiting from the sale, the proceeds will initially go into a frozen bank account. What happens after that, though, is the subject of some debate.

When he announced he was selling the club, Abramovich said he wanted the “net proceeds” to go to a foundation he would set up for the victims of the war in Ukraine.

The British government wants that, too, but is unlikely to let Abramovich decide how that money is allocated, so there is still uncertainty about how the money raised from this sale will be used.

It is possible it could sit in a frozen account, accruing interest, until Abramovich’s sanctions are lifted, although The Athletic understands his intention is still to give the money away. He has already said he is writing off the £1.5 billion he has pumped into Chelsea in soft loans since 2003.

If all goes to plan, Chelsea could be under new ownership by May.

In terms of who that might be, there are four bids that appear to have the inside track. They are the syndicate of investors assembled by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly; a bid led by the Ricketts family, who own the Dodgers’ fellow baseball club Chicago Cubs; an Anglo-American group involving Sir Martin Broughton and Crystal Palace co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer; and an offer from NFL side New York Jets’ owner Woody Johnson.

Others with a chance of making the shortlist include a bid funded by British private equity firm Centricus and one led by British property developer Nick Candy, who is backed by South Korean investors. A bid from the Saudi Media Group is not considered to be among the frontrunners.

Those who have no chance of success include several groups who put in bids based on turning Chelsea into a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) — an ownership concept based on blockchain technology.

One of these groups has told The Athletic it wants to create “the ChelseaVerse”, with fans around the world encouraged to buy tokens that would give them a say on club matters, discounts and access to unique video content.

The leaders of this particular group include two former footballers based in the US and they are backed by a leading global hospitality and leisure brand. They have asked to remain anonymous at this point and that is how they will probably stay, as neither Raine nor the UK government is likely to entertain something as radical or unproven as this for Chelsea.

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,476]

23 minutes ago, Vesper said:

and he is a SHIT owner, terrible

the Jets have been a laughingstock for ages under him

he just milks them for that New York market captive cash

He was also the UK Ambassador, he has connections in the UK government and you know he will grease their palms.

[Fulham Broadway 16,832]

The Ricketts can fuck the fuck off

[Thor 2,392]

6 hours ago, Vesper said:

I do NOT want either the Ricketts or Woody Johnson (and he is not even in a consortium, thus at 'only' around £4bn total net worth, he is not nearly wealthy enough)
both have run their teams (Chicago Cubs and the NY Jets, respectively) like shit, especially Johnson, who would be a fucking disaster
and they are all (except for one of the Ricketts women) RW Trumpian lickspittles

I could care less who they support politically. Everyone is allowed their choice there. 

 

They seem to have a terrible track record running organisations, hence it is a no from me if possible.