American billionaires Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, shareholders in Chelsea Football Club, have sold their stakes to the majority shareholder, investment fund Clearlake Capital

Clearlake Capital has reached an agreement to acquire the stakes held by Mark Walter and Todd Boehly in Chelsea FC, taking full control of the club. The transaction, announced by Chelsea and scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, values the club at approximately £5 billion, including debt.

Walter and Boehly, who jointly own 25% of Chelsea, will receive £950 million in cash, according to people cited by the Financial Times. Clearlake will finance the acquisition through its own capital and direct investments by its co-founders, Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano.

The valuation includes the club’s debt, which stood at nearly £1.4 billion in June last year, spending commitments and cash generated from player sales this summer. The transaction could facilitate the modernisation of the stadium and training ground, while Todd Boehly will step down as chairman.

The Clearlake-Walter-Boehly consortium bought Chelsea in 2022, following the sanctioning and forced sale of the club by Roman Abramovich. The partners subsequently had disputes over strategy and the expansion of the stadium.