Chelsea: Roman Abramovich has put the Blues up for sale – and wants £3BILLION
Roman Abramovich CONFIRMS he has put Chelsea up for sale – with ‘proceeds going to victims of the war in Ukraine’ – and will write off the £1.5bn debt the club owes him as he holds out for £3bn
Chelsea believe a sale to a US tycoon is their best route, despite a Swiss billionaire claiming that he has been approached to buy the club American bank the Raine Group have been instructed to to handle the sale Hansjorg Wyss, worth £4.3bn, says he could form part of a £2bn consortium Roman Abramovich is looking for a quick sale of the club he bought in 2003Abramovich is braced for UK sanctions amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Abramovich is also trying to sell his portfolio of London properties Sportsmail has now learned that the Russian oligarch has spent time in the UAE in recent weeks with a view to transferring part of his wealth there Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer questioned Boris Johnson in Parliament on why Abramovich hasn’t yet faced sanctions, with the Prime Minister saying: ‘It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases at this stage’
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Roman Abramovich on Wednesday night sensationally confirmed Chelsea is up for sale and is writing off the £1.5billion debt he is owed by the club.
In a mind-blowing development just after 6pm, Abramovich broke his silence to confirm he is in the process of selling Chelsea – with proceeds of the prospective sale to be donated to the victims of war in Ukraine.
MailOnline reported on Wednesday morning that the club had been put on the market, with a view to recouping at least £3billion.
And on Wednesday night, Abramovich confirmed: ‘I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC.
‘As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.
‘The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid.
‘This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated.
‘The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.
Roman Abramovich has put Chelsea up for sale and wants around £3billion for the club
Chelsea believe a sale to a US tycoon is their best route as they look for a new owner
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss (R) says he could form part of a consortium to purchase the club
‘Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the Club in this manner. However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the Club.
‘I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person. It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart.’
Abramovic has instructed American bank the Raine Group to handle the sale of the west London side.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claims he has been approached and is considering making an offer as part of a consortium which includes co-owner of the LA Dodgers Todd Boehly, who has shown previous interest in buying the club.
Abramovich is also looking to offload his £200million London property portfolio within days, including his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150 million. The property sits on a road between several embassies and is guarded at each end
The Russian’s portfolio also includes a £22m three-storey penthouse at the Chelsea waterfront
Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth north of £3bn – but the likelihood of receiving such offers appears small.
Indeed, it seems inevitable that the Russian businessman will have to lower his expectations.
Chelsea’s debt to Abramovich, who took over the Blues in 2003, currently stands at £1.5bn but the Russian’s gesture of not asking the loan to repaid should serve to ease the financial pressures over price.
There is a sense that securing an American buyer might be the club’s best route towards a sale as investment from China, the Far East and Eastern Europe has dried up for clear political reasons.
Nevertheless, there has been strong indications that Abramovich will receive at least two firm offers for the club by the end of the week.
The danger of a potential buy-out being wrecked by Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK government has added urgency to the situation.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer questioned Boris Johnson in Parliament on why Abramovich hasn’t yet faced sanctions, with the Prime Minister saying: ‘It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases at this stage’
The Raine Group first acted for Chelsea in 2018 after talks with US private equity firm Silverlake and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe broke up without reaching an agreement.
The club has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich’s conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell.
Speaking to Swiss newspaper Blick, Wyss said: ‘Like all other oligarchs, he (Abramovich) is also in a panic. Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
‘I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2bn.
Abramovich’s relationship with Vladimir Putin is under scrutiny amid the Ukrainian invasion
Trustees are understood to be concerned over conflicts of interest which may arise from them holding stewardship of the club
‘As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price. I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners. But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.’
However, there is doubt whether a consortium style takeover would have longevity given the huge financial demands expected at a club the size of Chelsea.
Nevertheless, it is clear now that Abramovich’s intention is to leave Chelsea.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck is among the trustees who have been handed stewardship
Part of the Karazin National University campus in the city of Kharkiv is destroyed after being struck by a Russian missile which was seemingly intended for a nearby police or interior ministry building
Firefighters battle to put out a blaze in Kharkiv as the city came under renewed airstrikes today, with an official saying there is almost no area of the city left that has not been hit
Russian armoured vehicles and trucks are pictured rolling through the centre of Kherson, as Moscow claimed to be in control of the city but Ukraine said it still holds key government buildings
A Swiss billionaire worth £4.3BN who founded a world leading maker of implants to mend bone fractures – and one of the ‘most philanthropic people in the world’ who has NEVER invested in sport: Who is Hansjorg Wyss, the 86-year-old looking to buy Chelsea?
Swiss medical magnate Hansjorg Wyss insists he has been given the opportunity to buy Chelsea as part of a consortium of ‘six or seven investors’ with Russian owner Roman Abramovich looking to sell.
The 86-year-old, worth a reported £4.3bn, has admitted interest in purchasing the reigning European champions.
‘Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,’ Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick. ‘I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
Swiss medical magnate Hansjorg Wyss (R) has been given the opportunity to buy Chelsea
‘I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners. But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone.
‘If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.’
But who is this 86-year-old billionaire who has no record of investing in sport, how did he make his fortune and what has he spent it on so far?
Born in the Swiss capital of Bern in 1935, Wyss was raised in an apartment with his two sisters.
Wyss sold Synthes USA – the world’s largest maker of implants to mend bone fractures – in 2012 for $19.7billion in cash and stock
He received a master’s degree in civil and structural engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 1959 before going on to earn an MBA from Harvard six years later.
After spells in textile engineering – including in different roles for car manufacturer Chrysler in Pakistan, Turkey and the Philippines – he worked in the steel industry and ran a side business selling planes.
Through that side focus, Wyss met a surgeon who had co-founded Synthes, a medical device manufacturer. Spotting an opportunity, the Swiss founded and became president of Synthes USA in 1977.
Now, the company is the world’s largest maker of implants to mend bone fractures.
Under Wyss’ stewardship, the sales team of the American division expanded and trained surgeons how to use its products, such as internal screws and plates.
He was Synthes’ worldwide CEO and chairman until his resignation as CEO in 2007, and was company chairman until Johnson & Johnson – the medical company which developed a Covid vaccine – acquired the company five years later.
Synthes USA is the world’s largest maker of implants to mend bone fractures
Wyss sold the company in 2012 for $19.7billion in cash and stock. Synthes is now part of their DePuy division.
He now holds stakes in publicly-traded biotech companies NovoCure and Molecular Partners.
Aside from the medical field, Wyss has been described as ‘among the most philanthropic people in the world’ according to Forbes.
The Swiss philanthropist (L) also has charitable foundations with assets of over $2 billion
He also has charitable foundations with assets of over $2 billion while, in 2014, he pledged $120m to two universities in Zurich – the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich where he obtained his first master’s – to establish a centre to accelerate medical breakthroughs.
Wyss has also pledged to donate $1 billion to conservation efforts around the world over a decade. Specifically, he donated the sum to the Wyss Campaign for Nature, aiming to conserve 30 per cent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.
Away from philanthropic activity, Wyss has been in favour of higher inheritance taxes for Switzerland’s wealthy and is a member of the Democracy Alliance, a club of liberal donors.
There has also been a fascinating rivalry of sorts between Wyss, who supports liberal politics and fellow billionaire Christoph Blocher, who supports conservative politics.
There has also been a fascinating rivalry of sorts between Wyss, who supports liberal politics and fellow Swiss billionaire Christoph Blocher (pictured), who supports conservative politics
Wyss highlighted the advantages of Swiss openness toward the EU and immigrants while Blocher advocated for Switzerland’s independence in those matters
Away from work, the 86-year-old is last known to live in Wyoming USA. He has one daughter, and enjoys hiking, skiing and backpacking, while he is also a hobby pilot.
He owns a 900-acre ranch in Paso Robles, California, and as of March 2022 he is ranked 451 on Forbes’ list of billionaires with a real time net worth of $5.1bn (£4.3bn).
