Two bids backed by US billionaires have become the frontrunners to win the £3bn race to purchase Chelsea Football Club, which is rushing to replace its Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich, who has been hit with sanctions.
The preferred bids are from an investor group led by Todd Boehly, the financier and owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, and another led by Josh Harris and David Blitzer, the private equity billionaires who own sport teams including basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
On Thursday, other bidders including Saudi Media Group were informed that they had been eliminated from the process, they said.