Boehly era at Chelsea nearly over with talks accelerating for duo to sell shares

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are close to cashing out at Chelsea, with Clearlake Capital closing in on a deal to buy their minority stakes.

It emerged last month that Boehly and Walter had entered talks to sell their 12.8 per cent stakes in Chelsea. The American businessmen were part of the BlueCo consortium which purchased the Premier League club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022, ending the Russian oligarch's 19-year spell as owner.

BlueCo paid £2.5billion for the Blues and pledged to invest a further £1.75bn into the club. Chelsea have endured a rollercoaster ride in the subsequent years, with over £1.5bn spent on transfers while tensions have emerged behind the scenes.

Chelsea chairman and co-owner Boehly and Clearlake chief Behdad Eghbali have clashed over plans for the future, including for a possible redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.

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Clearlake is the majority shareholder, holding 61.5 per cent of the club, with the remaining 38.5 per cent is split equally between Walter, Boehly and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. The possibility of the shareholders buying each other out has continually arisen over the past few years - and now Clearlake are poised to take control.

Bloomberg reports that a deal is nearly done after talks accelerated in recent weeks. Previous talks have always broken down over price, but a spokesperson for Walter boasted that the 66-year-old will pocket a profit when the deal is completed.

“This potential transaction values Mark Walter’s stake in Chelsea Football Club at a premium to his initial investment and is another successful sports investment for him,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg. “After this exit, Mr. Walter intends to make future sports-related investments.

“Walter did not initiate the proposed transaction to sell his interest, which has been in the works for quite some time."

It remains unclear whether the 90-year-old Wyss wants to cash out, but the move is continuing a theme for Walter, who agreed to sell basketball team Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record $12.5bn (£9.25bn) last month.

BlueCo's time in charge of Chelsea has seen a massive volume of players traded, with six different permanent managers also coming and going. Now managed by Xabi Alonso, the team spent £349m on transfers this summer, bringing in 11 players while selling 17 for £382m and loaning out 22 to record a profit.

Chelsea sit fourth in the Premier League table, having won two and lost one of their opening three matches. Their new-look attack has proven to be hugely exciting, with their 6-3 comeback win over Leeds in the Carabao Cup showing their potential.

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