Clearlake Capital Group is set to take full control of Chelsea Football Club, as Todd Boehly and Mark Walter have agreed to sell their stakes in the Premier League club.
The American billionaires were among the investors who joined Clearlake in the £2.5bn purchase of Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in 2022. The private equity company Clearlake held a 61.5% stake following the takeover, with Boehly, Walter and another investor, Hansjörg Wyss, divvying up the leftover shares.
Todd Boehly
Boehly served as chairman of the club and, under the joint ownership, the club has seen substantial investments across the men’s, women’s and youth squads.
However, the club’s private ownership has had mixed popularity as shown by the protests covered by the TCC in April of this year against BlueCo, the ownership group behind Chelsea and Strasbourg.
Chelsea’s Wednesday statement read: “The progress made over the past four years reflects the shared commitment of Clearlake, Boehly and the wider ownership group and the leadership, staff, coaches and players at Chelsea. Clearlake intends to continue building on the strategic course the Club is now on and realising the ambition that the ownership group has developed together.”
The Club was also keen to reassure supporters: “There will be no changes to the day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy at the Club”.
Xabi Alonso, Chelsea men’s manager. Photo © Chelsea’s instagram
Todd Boehly said: “It has been an honour to serve as Chairman of Chelsea Football Club. I would like to thank the many who helped secure a bright future for the Club, including the English Premier League, the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans. I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the Club.”
Clearlake co-founders Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano thanked Boehly for his contribution as chairman and said the firm would “continue investing in the Club’s infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the Club’s supporters.”
The owners made a statement today: “Yesterday marked an important milestone and the beginning of the next chapter for Chelsea. We thank our departing partners and are grateful for their contributions to the Club. We move forward with a shared sense of purpose, clear direction and confidence in what comes next. Our ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level, to win major trophies, and to build sustained success.”
