Chelsea news: Ricketts-led consortium confirms bid to buy Blues has been withdrawn
- Planet Sport writer
- 15 April 2022
The consortium, led by Chicago Cubs owners Tom and Laura Ricketts, was one of four suitors asked to finalise a bid before Thursday's deadline.
The four potential new owners of Chelsea was narrowed down to three on Friday morning, as the Ricketts consortium confirmed that they had no intentions of submitting a final bid.
The Chicago Cubs owners and their partners decided against submitting a final bid for the Blues, with the consortium members understood to be unable to agree the final composition of their offer.
The consortium was spearheaded by Tom and Laura Ricketts, who had partnered with US billionaires Ken Griffin and Dan Gilbert on a cash-only bid to buy the Blues.
New York merchant bank the Raine Group were in charge of overseeing the bidding process, and set a deadline on Thursday for final bids to be submitted by.
The Ricketts family has decided against submitting a final bid to buy Chelsea after “certain issues could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process.” pic.twitter.com/31I7hdtTgL
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 15, 2022
However, with no bid submitted, the consortium released a statement on Friday morning to inform everyone of their decision to pull out.
"The Ricketts-Griffin-Gilbert group has decided, after careful consideration, not to submit a final bid for Chelsea FC.
"In the process of finalising the proposal, it became increasingly clear that certain issues could not be addressed given the unusual dynamics around the sales process.
"We have great admiration for Chelsea and its fans and we wish the new owners well."
Ricketts family pull out of Chelsea takeover as three bidders left standing. What’s your thoughts on this? pic.twitter.com/TOBb5DOR7v
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) April 15, 2022
The bid had faced criticism from Chelsea fans over the last few weeks, with supporters campaigning against their attempted takeover due to historic emails that surfaced from 2019.
However, it's unclear whether fan dissatisfaction had a role to play in their decision to pull out of the bidding.
So far, it's understood that all three remaining bidders reached the deadline set on Thursday, leaivng LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca as the remaining options.
Any takeover would expect to take place over the summer.