Todd Boehly is likely to have to pay an "enormous" amount of money to buy out Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali amid a rift at the top of the club.
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Chelsea owners want to buy each other outClearlake duo Boehly & Eghbali in reported riftWill take 'enormous' sum to buy one another outWHAT HAPPENED?
A Boehly-led consortium completed a £4.25 billion ($5.57m) takeover of Chelsea in May 2022, but he is a minority investor with a 12.8 per cent stake in the club. Eghbali, who is the co-founder of private equity firm Clearlake Capital, is said to have a 61.5 per cent share in the Blues; with the two locked in a dispute over the direction of the Premier League side. Now, a financial expert believes the co-owners would have to pay between £2-3bn ($2.6-3.9bn) to buy the other out.
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Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider: “We will have to see where it goes. Clearly, Clearlake have got the dominant position in terms of having 61 per cent of the shares. Then you have got three individuals who have got 13 per cent each. If they talk as one as a 39-per-cent block, then clearly they have got quite a lot more power. But it’s not a foregone conclusion how this pans out. The sums that are required are still enormous, assuming that the valuation is broadly what they paid or a little bit more. These parties could need £2-3bn to get rid of the other. It’s not that easy to raise those kinds of numbers for a club that is currently losing £200m a year at the operating level. I would say that Clearlake given the dominant position they have on the board in terms of 61 per cent of the shareholding and the number of seats that they have are in the driving seat. But it’s not a foregone conclusion how it ends.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Boehly has been mischaracterised as the main figurehead at Chelsea but the co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team owns the same amount as fellow billionaires Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss – limiting his power at the Blues. While he wants to run the ship, Clearlake are reportedly aiming to increase their stake, rather than selling it. A big power struggle appears to be coming to the fore at Stamford Bridge.
AFPWHAT NEXT?
While these internal board struggles continue, Chelsea travel to London rivals West Ham next weekend after beating Bournemouth 1-0 on Saturday. That result lifted Enzo Maresca's men to seventh in the table after four matches of the Premier League season.