Bain Capital’s Pagliuca Makes Final Pitch for Chelsea FC

(Bloomberg) -- Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca will present his takeover bid for Chelsea Football Club to executives of the west London team today, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the battle for one of the biggest names in world sports nears its endgame.

Pagliuca is the last remaining bidder to make his pitch, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. His consortium will outline plans for running Chelsea and the development of its Stamford Bridge stadium, the person said.

Pagliuca is heading one of the three consortiums left in the running to buy Chelsea, which is being sold by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. The other two are being led by former Guggenheim Partners President Todd Boehly, and British businessman Martin Broughton. Both presented their offers to Chelsea’s management this week, the person said. 

Another leading bid group, led by the U.S. Ricketts family and including hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, dropped out of the running earlier in April, narrowing a field that had once numbered more than 20 potential suitors to just three. The Raine Group, the U.S.-based advisory firm handling the sale, will soon decide on its preferred bidder for Chelsea. 

Representatives for Boehly, Broughton, Chelsea, Pagliuca and Raine either declined to comment or couldn’t be reached for comment.

For Chelsea, a sale will bring much-needed certainty. It’s been unable to operate normally since Abramovich had his assets frozen by the U.K. government in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich put Chelsea on the block in early March, shortly before the U.K. placed him under far-reaching sanctions for his ties to President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Since then, the west London club has been running under a number of restrictions that have prevented it from selling some matchday tickets, merchandise and negotiating new contracts with players.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said earlier this month that the sanctions were one of the reasons the club was unable to persuade star defender Antonio Rudiger to sign a new contract. Pagliuca, who also owns a majority stake in Italian Serie A football team Atalanta, acknowledged in a recent statement that the bidding process for Chelsea has been a disconcerting one for the club and its fans. 

The sale could be one of the biggest-ever transactions involving a sports team, with Chelsea valued at about 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) by industry analysts Football Benchmark. Any preferred bidder will still need to pass the English Premier League’s fit and proper test for owners before they can take control of the team.

Pagliuca’s bid group includes Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., and former Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger. The group says it also has the support of former Chelsea captain John Terry’s True Blues Consortium.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.