Chelsea announce that Clearlake will acquire the stakes of Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter.
Published On ۱۷ Sep ۲۰۲۶
Xabi Alonso said Chelsea’s ambition was “very clear” after Clearlake Capital took full control of the Premier League club, ending Todd Boehly’s chairmanship.
Chelsea announced late on Wednesday that Clearlake, led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, would acquire the stakes of Boehly and director Mark Walter.
US billionaires Boehly and Walter partnered with Clearlake to buy the London club from Roman Abramovich in May ۲۰۲۲ in a sale mandated by the British government.
Prior to the new deal, private equity company Clearlake had owned ۶۱.۵ percent of the club, with Boehly and Walter carving up the remaining shares with another investor, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.
Chelsea said Wyss would “remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group”.
Boehly and Walter are among the co-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, while Walter recently sold the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise for $۱۲.۵bn.
The Financial Times reported that the pair were set to receive ۹۵۰ million pounds ($۱.۲۷bn) for their combined stakes in Chelsea, in a deal that values the club at about five billion pounds, including debt.
In a new statement on Thursday, Chelsea said: “Our ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level, to win major trophies, and to build sustained success”.
Blues boss Alonso, who started at Chelsea on July ۱ , told reporters that the change was “an important day for the club”.
“Thanks to the former owners for what they’ve done. I was not here, but I know they played an important role,” he said on the eve of Chelsea’s Premier League match at Brentford on Friday.
“And now that Behdad is taking more control, almost full control, I think it’s good that the main one is clear.
“I have very good relations with Behdad. He was the one that came to Madrid to explain to me the project, to convince me and we are working well together.”
“We know where we want to be, we know that everything takes time, but the ambition for that is very clear,” the Spaniard added.
Since the takeover in ۲۰۲۲, Chelsea’s highest Premier League finish is fourth in ۲۰۲۴/۲۵, when the club won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup.
Former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach Alonso has a brief to revitalise the underachieving Chelsea squad, which finished a dismal ۱۰th in the Premier League last season.
The Blues have made a mixed start to the new campaign, taking seven points from their four Premier League games to sit sixth in the table.
Boehly and Walter have also sold their stakes in Chelsea’s partner club, French Ligue ۱ side Strasbourg, giving full control to Clearlake.
