Buyers would be eyeing Russian-owned Chelsea

Chelsea FC stakeholders are on high alert over a possible sale of the prized English soccer club by billionaire Roman Abramovich, people familiar with the matter said.

Sports investors and private equity firms, including some from the United States, have begun drawing up possible takeover bids for the London team, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. Chelsea already filed an inquiry this month, one of the sources said.

This comes as governments around the world respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine with a range of punitive sanctions against Russia, its companies and the super-rich. Abramovich is not currently listed on the UK sanctions list.

Any potential sale of Chelsea under these circumstances would be unprecedented in English football. Chelsea is valued at around 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion), according to KPMG, meaning a takeover could be one of the biggest in the European game. By comparison, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund bought Newcastle United FC last year in a deal that valued the British Premier League club at 305 million pounds ($409 million).

It is not entirely clear how a deal would play out if the UK imposes sanctions. Sanctioned individuals would not be able to sell their UK assets, which would be frozen, according to Stacy Keen, a sanctions lawyer at Pinsent Masons LLP.

A Chelsea representative declined to comment, while a spokesman for Abramovich could not be reached for comment.

Abramovich has a net worth of about $13 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, having built his fortune on dividends and sales of privatized assets acquired from the former Soviet Union. This week, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss refused to rule out adding Abramovich to an updated list of sanctioned people.

The 55-year-old is best known in Britain as the owner of Chelsea, which he bought in 2003. Since then, he has invested millions to make it one of the most successful teams in England and Europe. Last year Chelsea won the prestigious UEFA Champions League title and this month added the Club World Cup to their trophy case. The club is third in the UK Premier League table.

Chris Bryant, a member of the opposition British Labor Party, told the House of Commons this week that Abramovich should not be allowed to own an English soccer club.

American investors would show “significant” interest in Chelsea if it went up for sale, said Jeff Moorad, whose firm MSP Sports Capital has invested in McLaren Racing. The club is “one of the true global brands,” he said in an email.