Bain Capital chairman Stephen Pagliuca reportedly attended Chelsea's 6-0 win against Southampton on Saturday; Larry Tanenbaum has now joined his consortia ahead of the deadline for final bids on Thursday; Chelsea travel to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday evening
Tuesday 12 April 2022 12:25, UK
The chairman of the NBA has joined one of the consortia preparing to table final takeover bids for Chelsea this week.
Sky News has learnt that Larry Tanenbaum, who also owns a host of North American sports teams, is among the investors backing Stephen Pagliuca's offer for the Stamford Bridge club.
City sources said on Monday that Mr Tanenbaum, a Canadian, was among several wealthy individuals who have agreed to back Mr Pagliuca, the private equity billionaire who has made a fortune from his career at Bain Capital.
Among the group's other co-investors are said to be John Burbank, founder of the San Francisco hedge fund Passport Capital, and Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who was the first investor in the tech behemoth.
Mr Saverin and Raj Ganguly, two co-founders of investment firm B Capital Group, are both understood to have agreed to back Mr Pagliuca, who released a statement on Tuesday revealing their plans for Chelsea ahead of submitting a 'substantial and credible' bid later this week.
The statement read: "This process has been a disconcerting time for the football club and fans. Throughout my life and career, my ethos has always been to operate quietly, with integrity, and let my actions and results speak loudly. However, it is imperative to clarify and assure supporters about our bid group and its commitments, to emphasize how seriously we take our potential responsibility to Chelsea.
"Ultimately, fans will see our commitment and, we hope, trust us to stay true to our values on and off the pitch. We understand the responsibilities that come with such an important sporting institution and hold ourselves accountable to the fans.
"Later this week, we will submit a substantial and credible bid proposal - one that we expect will meet the respective requirements and regulations of the Premier League, UK Government and UEFA - and we pledge to honour our commitment to credibility and good guardianship of Chelsea Football Club from day one."
Last week, Sky News revealed that Bob Iger, the former Walt Disney chairman, had also been approached about joining the bid.
The Bain Capital chairman is reported to have attended Chelsea's 6-0 win at Southampton on Saturday, having travelled to the UK for talks with club executives and advisers about his offer.
Mr Pagliuca co-owns the Boston Celtics NBA team, as well as a large stake in the Italian Serie A side Atalanta, which he could be obliged to offload if he is successful with his Chelsea bid.
One source close to Mr Pagliuca's bid said that Mr Tanenbaum's work on combating antisemitism was likely to be well-received by Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner who has been hit by UK government sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The four remaining consortia plotting to replace Abramovich as Chelsea's owner must table final bids on Thursday, two days after the crucial second leg of the London club's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. Chelsea trail 3-1 after last week's first leg.
Raine Group, the merchant bank overseeing the sale process, extended the deadline last week in order to give the four bidders a full and fair opportunity to finalise the details of their proposals.
Raine is considering awaiting clearance from the Premier League for all four consortia before presenting a preferred bidder to the government.
Scrutiny of the four bids by English football's top flight has already got underway after the remaining consortia submitted details of their key investors to Raine ten days ago.
The Premier League is expected to take the remainder of this month to evaluate those involved in the bids - who include a string of US billionaires and pillars of the British corporate establishment - and its work to approve all four consortia means the process may need to be extended.
One of the bidders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they now anticipated that a final recommendation would be made to ministers later than the original target date of the week beginning April 18, with the deal now likely to complete in May.
In addition to Mr Pagliuca's consortium, the bidders comprise: a group led by Sir Martin Broughton, the former Liverpool and British Airways chairman, which includes the billionaire Crystal Palace shareholders Dave Blitzer and Josh Harris; a bid spearheaded by Todd Boehly, the LA Dodgers part-owner, which includes backing from Clearlake Capital, a US investment firm; and the Chicago Cubs-owning Ricketts family, who have teamed up with Cleveland Cavaliers-owner Dan Gilbert and the hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin.
The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert Group have also added Chelsea fan and Cobra beer founder Lord Karan Bilimoria to their bid. Lord Bilimoria will join Chelsea's board if the bid is successful and act as an ambassador and support the club's philanthropic programmes.
The four remaining bidders visited London last week to meet Chelsea board members, executives and Raine as they vie to end Mr Abramovich's 19-year tenure.
They have all been told they must provide legal undertakings that they will guarantee at least £1 billion of investment in the club's infrastructure, its academy and women's team if they acquire it in the coming weeks.
The sale process has been complicated by the sanctions against Mr Abramovich and the frenzy of interest in buying last season's Champions League winners.
Between them, the final bidders either control or own stakes in a legion of North American teams spanning baseball, basketball and ice hockey.
The cluster of American sports billionaires circling Chelsea underlines the extent to which the Premier League has become a magnet for financiers from across the Atlantic during the last 20 years.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been acquired by US-based businessmen during that period, and a significant number of other top-flight clubs also have American backing.
By the standards of conventional takeover processes, the Chelsea auction has moved at breakneck speed, with executives at other major investment banks suggesting that such a complex sale would typically have taken at least six months.
A rapid sale is seen as essential if Chelsea is to avert the uncertainty that would trigger the break-up of one of the top flight's most valuable playing squads.
The current FIFA Club World Cup winners have been thrown into disarray by Russia's war on Ukraine, with Mr Abramovich initially proposing to place the club in the care of its foundation and then formally putting it up for sale.
Mr Abramovich had initially slapped a £3 billion price tag on the Stamford Bridge outfit, with the net proceeds being donated to a charitable foundation set up to benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine. He also said he intended to write off a £1.5 billion loan to the club.
As well as government consent in the form of a special licence, Chelsea's new owners will also require the approval of the Premier League under its fit and proper ownership test.
A spokeswoman for Mr Pagliuca declined to comment, while none of those understood to be joining his consortium could be reached for comment.
