Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to buy Chelsea has been rejected out of hand, though the 69-year-old remains interested in purchasing the club.
Ratcliffe, the CEO of Ineos Group Ltd and Britain’s richest person, made a late offer of £4.25 billion to buy the Premier League club on Friday, but the proposal was rejected.
Sky Sports are reporting that Ratcliffe’s late bid, which was submitted on Friday, is difficult to consider given the approach has not followed the process set out by the US bank in charge of the sale, the Raine Group.
The Raine Group has name a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly as the preferred bidder, with a deadline of the end of the week to finalize an agreement.
The Premier League has completed their owners’ and directors’ test on Boehly and his consortium, giving the US-based bid the go-ahead to take over at Stamford Bridge.
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Aside from Boehly’s bid, two other consortiums are interested in succeeding Roman Abramovich as Chelsea owner.
Sir Martin Broughton, the former chairman of Liverpool and British Airways, leads a British-based bid, while Stephen Pagliuca, a part-owner of the Boston Celtics, is also interested.
Reports on Wednesday suggested there could be a delay to the takeover process over concerns Abramovich is seeking a repayment of a £1.6bn loan to the club.
Recall that Sir Jim Ratcliffe last month made a last-minute proposal for Chelsea for £4.25 billion.
Ratcliffe met with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck and presented his bid for the Stamford Bridge club.
A spokeswoman for Ratcliffe confirms the British business magnate’s offer to acquire Chelsea, which is currently thought to be the club’s biggest bid.
“We made an offer this morning,” Ratcliffe explained.
