British businessman Jim Ratcliffe has made a £4.25 billion ($5.3 billion) offer to buy Premier League club Chelsea, his company Ineos said on Friday.
The club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich put the Blues up for sale on March 2 before being sanctioned the following week by the British government over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The lengthy sale was believed to be close to a conclusion, with New York bank the Raine Group – handling the process for Abramovich – reported to be set to announce their preferred bidder.
But Ratcliffe has now thrown his hat into the ring, with a bid that would mean £1.75 billion of investment into Chelsea over 10 years while a further £2.5 billion has been committed to a charitable trust to support victims of the war in Ukraine.