Chelsea majority shareholder will not sell shares amid power battle claims

Chelsea’s majority shareholder Clearlake Capital have no intention of selling their stake in the club and will not allow it to go up for auction again, amid claims of a potential ownership power battle.

A report in Bloomberg claimed that Chelsea’s main shareholders are exploring the possibility of buying each other out, but Telegraph Sport understands that Clearlake, who own 61.5 per cent of the shares, would only be open to increasing their stake.

It is understood there have been no talks between Clearlake, co-owner Todd Boehly or any of Chelsea’s other investors about a sale of any Clearlake shares at this stage.

Clearlake and Boehly took over the club just over two years ago after it was put up for auction when former owner Roman Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It is understood that the relationship between Clearlake, who are owned by Chelsea co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, and Boehly has frosted since the takeover but it is still described as being professional.

All major decisions have to be signed off by Eghbali, Feliciano and Boehly, and just this week Chelsea announced a new management committee to take over the running of the commercial side of the club that was agreed by all parties.

Boehly, who holds the title of chairman, has stepped back from the day-to-day running of Chelsea over the past 12 months but is said to remain committed to the club.

Clearlake, the private equity fund managed by Eghbali and Feliciano, owns 61.5 per cent of the shares and voting rights in the UK-based company behind Chelsea, 22 Holdco.

The remaining 38.5 per cent is split equally between Boehly, Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter, meaning each man owns a stake of just under 13 per cent.

It is understood that Clearlake would be prepared to buy any of those 13 per cent stakes, or shares from any other minority investors, should they ever be made available for sale in the future.

But it is claimed there is currently no prospect of Clearlake selling any of their shares or trying to raise third-party capital, with the American investment firm seeing their commitment stretching over a decade and longer.

There is a recognition that Chelsea need a prolonged period of stability and Clearlake will not allow the club to go up for sale, even if any other investors decide they want to put their stakes on the market.

As revealed by Telegraph Sport in March, Chelsea’s owners can pass the chairmanship of the club between them every five years as part of an extraordinary written agreement.

And Clearlake intend to nominate their own representative to take the chairmanship at the earliest opportunity in 2027, assuming the current structure remains the same until then.

Eghbali is the most active of the three co-owners in the day-to-day running of the club, working closely with co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

Earlier this year, sources close to Boehly insisted he had no intention of giving up his chairmanship before 2027 and was said to have spoken to his business associates about the next 20-plus years at Chelsea.