British billionaire, Nick Candy has confirmed he is still pursuing a bid for Chelsea despite sanctions placed on the club’sowner Roman Abramovich.
The 49-year-old property developer is a Chelsea fan, who is planning to attend Sunday’s Premier League home match against Newcastle and has pledged to put supporters at the centre of his plans for the club that will be jointly-funded with American investors.
‘We are examining the details of the announcement and we are still interested in making a bid,’ a spokesperson for Candy told Sportsmail. ‘Clearly this is a time of great uncertainty for all Chelsea fans.’
Candy is in talks with several potential investors over a joint venture, with the fact that the sale now has to be officially approved by the government doing little to dampen interest.
Sportsmail has learned that Abramovich rejected an offer of just under £2billion from one American group earlier this week, and given the level of interest, the eventual sale price is likely to exceed that amount, although none of the money would go to the Russian or any of his charitable projects.
Candy is convinced that Chelsea can be run profitably despite the club posting losses of £145m last year, through growing the club’s brand globally and embracing innovative new markets, as well as extracting more revenue from a multi-purpose redeveloped Stamford Bridge.
This belief appears to be shared by other buyers, with a £2bn-plus bid from Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss still on the table, and serious interest from Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and the owner of the New York Jets, Woody Johnson.
