The consortiums bidding for Chelsea led by Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton have been told they are on the shortlist to buy the club but Nick Candy’s offer will not be progressing to the next stage.
Those groups have been updated by Raine Group, the US bank handling the sale, as part of a process that will end with Chelsea being taken out of Roman Abramovich’s hands.
Candy, a Chelsea supporter, is in talks with another interested party regarding potentially teaming up after his consortium did not make the cut. He has backing from, among others, the South Korean Hana Financial Group.
Boehly, part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, has joined with investors including the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and Jonathan Goldstein, a British businessman who is the CEO of Cain International and a Tottenham fan.
They are understood to have been among the first groups to bid and were confident from the word go of striking a deal. The Times columnist and Conservative peer Daniel Finkelstein and the PR executive Barbara Charone – both Chelsea season-ticket holders – are part of the consortium.
Broughton is also a Chelsea fan and has another, Sebastian Coe, in his group. Among the backers are the US investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who own the Philadelphia 76ers basketball franchise and are Crystal Palace shareholders. They will have to end their involvement with Palace if selected to buy Chelsea. Financial muscle is also offered by Creative Artists Agency, a US company whose portfolio includes the football agency Base, and Evolution Media Capital.
Quick Guide
How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play store on Android phones by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs baseball team, were on Friday morning still hopeful they could make the shortlist. Their bid has faced a huge backlash on social media after it emerged that Joe Ricketts, the family’s patriarch, was accused of Islamophobia three years ago. The Ricketts family has said it “rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms”.
A bid from Saudi Media Group is known to have been rejected by Raine, which will take its preferred offers to Chelsea and Abramovich for them to select their No 1 option. That choice will next be referred to the Premier League for consideration under its owners’ and directors’ test. If that is passed the government will finally be asked to provide a licence to sell the club.