Sir Jim Ratcliffe Makes Late Bid To Buy Chelsea FC

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25bn. £2.5bn is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75bn committed to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.

This is an eleventh hour bid from the INEOS leader, who had previously spoken of bidding for the club in the past as a Chelsea fan, however he has now entered play long after the initial deadline.

It will be interesting to see whether the bid is considered by Raine Group, the company currently undertaking the selection process of the remaining two bids for the club, as it is far beyond their deadline.

A statement made on the businessman’s INEOS website said:

This is a British bid, for a British club. 

We believe that a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition. With responsibility to the fans and the community.

That is why we are committing to spending £1.75bn over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club.

We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea FC. This will be organic and on-going so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.

We will continue to invest in the team to ensure we have a first class squad of the world’s greatest players, coaches and support staff, in the men’s and women’s games.

And we hope to continue to invest in the academy to provide opportunity for talented youngsters to develop into first class players.

We believe that London should have a club that reflects the stature of the city. One that is held in the same regard as Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We intend Chelsea to be that club.

We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game – not as a means to turn a profit. We do that with our core businesses. The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea FC for that reason.

No further comment will be made from Sir Jim or INEOS during the bidding process.