Merchant bank the Raine Group have begun whittling down their shortlist of candidates to be Chelsea’s next owner.
Up until now, the decision-making process has been pretty opaque, with fans having been left in the dark as to why some bidders have been approved, whiles others have been turned down. In a report yesterday, the highly reliable Financial Times detailed the three main criteria that the Raine Group are using to determine who will be shortlisted. They include:
- How much funding will be made available to invest in the club and the stadium
- How much will be delivered to charity
- The bidders’ record in managing high-profile assets
At the moment, there are two bids that have gone through to the next round. Todd Boehly’s consortium, financed by Clearlake Capital, and Martin Broughton’s consortium which is financed by Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
The Financial Times have confirmed that Harris and Blitzer will have to give up their minority stake in Crystal Palace if they are chosen as the preferred bidder.
Other candidates, including Centricus and Nick Candy’s consortium are not expected to be in the running. The Saudi Media Group’s offer has also been rejected with it being claimed their bid was “not competitive” as it “relied heavily on debt financing”. The fate of the Ricketts family’s proposal is yet to be determined.
