Roman Abramovich's 19-year ownership ends as Chelsea takeover by Todd Boehly-led consortium completes

On Saturday, the deal was officially announced. It ends Roman Abramovich's 19-year tenure and allows Chelsea to be free from restrictions related to sanctions imposed upon their former owner due to alleged ties to top Russian leaders.

With this new license, Chelsea will be able to compete in the 2022/23 season. This ended three months of uncertainty threatening the club's existence.

The club's representative said, "Chelsea Football Club can confirm a final and definitive agreement last night to sell the club to the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium. It is expected that the transaction will be completed on Monday. The club will update further at that time."

Under Abramovich's ownership, Chelsea won 21 trophies in 19 years. In February, he won every possible trophy at least once, including the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. The English club won more silverware than any other in that time frame.

Todd Boehly-led consortium are the new custodians of Chelsea

Raine Group, a New York-based merchant bank appointed to handle the sale after performing financial duties for the club in recent years, had selected the Boehly consortium as Chelsea's preferred bidder.

In a statement, L.A. Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly said, "We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club… We're all in — 100% — every minute of every match."

Chelsea has operated with a government license since Abramovich's assets were frozen in March.

Clearlake Capital and Boehly were among the 250 initial buyers. The club stated that 12 credible bids were received, and then a final list of three bidders was created.

After ensuring that Abramovich couldn't profit, the British government approved the sale last Wednesday. According to the government, the proceeds will be frozen and used "to support the relief and rebuilding effort in Ukraine as soon as possible."

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a British businessman, tried to capitalize on disagreements about the terms of the sale by submitting his own £4.25bn offer at the eleventh hour.

Abramovich seems to have accepted defeat in his attempt to obtain the £2.5bn asking value. This was topped up with a commitment by the Boehly group of £1.75bn additional investment. These funds were paid into a company that the U.K. government feared had connections to family members of Abramovich.

On Wednesday, the U.K. government approved the takeover and moved the process closer to completion.

The Premier League gave their approval for the sale just days after it had declared that the consortium had passed its Owners' and Directors' Test.

Boehly has been a key figure in the bid's success and has been to several Chelsea games since the signing of the original agreement.

Although Boehly was the public face for the group that included peer Daniel Finkelstein and billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and British property developer Jonathan Goldstein, Clearlake Capital, a Californian private equity firm, will now own most of the shares in Chelsea.

Chelsea came in third place for the Premier League season, qualifying them for the Champions League next season. Liverpool defeated them in the finals of the Carabao Cup and F.A. Cup.