Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are at loggerheads as they battle for full control of Chelsea.
Boehly is Chelsea chairman, which he took on when leading the takeover in 2022 when Roman Abramovich left the club.
Boehly is in talks with investors as he prepares to mount a bid for the 65.1% stake that Eghbali’s Clearlake Capital hold.
Situation explained – who has the power at Chelsea
But just who is in the driving seat to take control at Stamford Bridge? HITC spoke with GRV Media’s Head of Football Finance, Adam Williams for his view on the power struggle emerging in West London.
“On face value, Clearlake hold the high card here. They own more of the club and they control the Class A shares.
“From what I’ve seen, the most likely path forward for Boehly would be to get in another private equity firm to try and buy Clearlake out.
“That would have to be at a greater price than they initially paid.
“Because Boehly’s faction hold the B shares, I believe they would be liable to cover any loss made on the transaction. That’s another thing that gives Clearlake more leverage.
Boehly has advantage in power game
“I think Boehly may have one advantage in that because he and his co-investors have used their own cash to buy their stake, they are not beholden to their limited partners like Clearlake are.
“If I was a multi-millionaire and had invested in a firm like Clearlake only to hear that they had turned down a profitable offer on an asset that is losing money fast and appears to have no strategic direction, I wouldn’t be happy.
“The thing that is scarcely believable about all this is that Boehly, Eghbali and everyone else connected with the ownership still seem to be financially committed to the club as a capital appreciation project.
“That means, despite sinking billions on transfers and running at a huge operating loss, they believe they will one day be able to sell the club for much, much more than they paid for it.
“Personally, I don’t see where that value is coming from. Not at the scale that these financial institutions expect, anyway.”
The post Boehly and Eghbahli Chelsea power struggle explained - who will win the battle of Stamford Bridge appeared first on HITC.
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