Lawyers from Maples and Calder provided Cayman Islands counsel to Clearlake Capital Group, LP on its acquisition of Premier League football club Chelsea.
Clearlake is part of a consortium that also includes Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital.
Under the terms of the agreement, Boehly and Clearlake will share joint control and equal governance of the club, with Boehly serving as chairman of the holding company.
The transaction completed on 30 May 2022.
Chelsea FC was put up for sale in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused the UK government to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs, including club owner Roman Abramovich.
As a result of the transaction, up to US$3 billion will be donated to provide immediate relief and long-term support to victims of the conflict in Ukraine.
The purchase price is estimated at US$5.3 billion with Clearlake said to be providing much of the financing.
Sky News reported the Santa Monica-based buyout firm owns about 60% of the club’s shares. Voting rights are reportedly split equally between Clearlake and Boehly’s group.
Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, Clearlake co-founders and managing partners, said in a press statement, “We are excited to commit the resources to continue Chelsea’s leading role in English and global football, and as an engine for football talent development.
“As pioneers in sports and media investing, we are thrilled to partner with Todd and the rest of the consortium to meaningfully grow the Club as a global platform. Together, we will expand the Club’s investment across infrastructure, technology, and sports science to support the incredible Chelsea football and commercial teams – all with the goal of leveraging this growth to fuel even more on-pitch success.”
Boehly, who is also part-owner of US baseball club the LA Dodgers, said, “We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club.”
He said, “We’re all in – 100% — every minute of every match. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud.
“Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success. I personally want to thank ministers and officials in the British government, and the Premier League, for all their work in making this happen.”
Chelsea FC is not the only Premier League Club owned using Cayman Islands investment structures. Most famously, Manchester United was registered in Cayman in 2012 before shares in the club were floated on the New York Stock Exchange. The Cayman-registered holding company is now majority-owned by family trusts affiliated with Glazer family via US companies.
Premier League clubs Arsenal, Liverpool and Crystal Palace also have US owners; Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates; Newcastle United is in the hands of a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund; and Wolverhampton Wanderers is Chinese-owned.
The Maples Group’s law firm also advised Clearlake on its completion of fundraising for its seventh flagship private equity fund, Clearlake Capital Partners VII, which closed two weeks before the Chelsea FC acquisition.
With an initial target of US$10 billion, the fund attracted $14.1 billion in commitments, twice the size of its predecessor, which closed two years ago. It is the second largest buyout fund in the US so far this year.
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