Clearlake Capital takes full control of Chelsea

American billionaires Todd Boehly and Mark Walter have sold their shares in Chelsea to the English club's majority shareholder, the private equity firm Clearlake Capital, which has taken full control. Boehly and Walter, respectively president and member of the board of directors of the Blues, had collaborated with Clearlake Capital to buy the club in May 2022 from the Russian Roman Abramovich for 2.5 billion pounds (about 2.9 billion euros).

“Chelsea Football Club announced today that subsidiaries of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. will acquire the interest held by Todd Boehly,” the club said in a statement. “As part of this transition, Clearlake will also acquire the stake held by Mark Walter and will therefore assume full control of the club,” the statement added.

Prior to the announcement, private equity firm Clearlake held a 62% stake, while Boehly and Walter owned the remaining shares together with their investment partner Hansjorg Wyss. Wyss "will remain a significant shareholder and partner within the ownership group," the statement said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Boehly and Walter, co-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise, reportedly valued the club at £5 billion.

According to the Financial Times, the pair received £950 million in cash as part of a deal that values ​​the club at around £5 billion, including debt. The last two years have been characterized by friction between Clearlake Capital and Boehly, reported in the British press, due to disappointing results despite hundreds of millions of euros spent on the transfer market. Last month, Walter sold his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers (basketball), to Bob Iger and Jared Kushner for $12.5 billion.