Liverpool and FSG investment stance explained after Chelsea secure £410m boost
Chelsea have secured $500m (£410.5m) worth of investment from US firm Ares Management as Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital seek ways to fund a stadium build and growth of their football portfolio.
The West London side, acquired by Boehly and Clearlake in May 2022 for $2.5bn, have been on a heavy spending spree in the three transfer windows under the new ownership’s watch, spending more than £1bn on acquiring new players and breaking the British transfer record twice, first with Enzo Fernandez and then with Moises Caicedo, beating Liverpool to the punch with regards to the latter.
The deal, first reported by the Financial Times, is for preferred equity, meaning that Ares would be ahead in the queue of creditors should there be default or bankruptcy. It marks the end of a search for additional investment into Chelsea to allow them to continue to press ahead with their off-field plans, which include the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge and the acquisition of more football clubs around the world. During the summer Chelsea’s holding company paid £65m for a near 100% stake in French side Strasbourg.
The $500m capital injection comes at a time when Liverpool remains open to inward investment. The temptation would be to question why Chelsea can wrap up such a deal of size at speed, and why Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have not yet been able to ink an agreement with a minority partner for a stake in the Reds despite a search that is getting on for 12 months.
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