Chelsea takeover battle intensifies as LA Dodgers co-owners join rival bids

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The battle to become Chelsea’s new owners has taken a dramatic turn after it emerged that two co-owners of the LA Dodgers, Mark Walter and Peter Guber, will be going head-to-head as part of rival bids. The American businessmen will face off against each other after Guber joined Stephen Pagliuca’s bid on Wednesday.

Walter is CEO of investment firm Guggenheim Partners, which has an estimated £261bn ($340 billion) in assets under management. The 61-year-old linked up with Todd Boehly’s consortium only five days ago, with the American billionaire’s group already taking advantage of a training ground invite to the club’s Cobham training complex.

But in a surprise announcement on Wednesday, his Dodgers co-owner Guber — a movie producer by trade — has joined forces with Pagliuca to rival his fellow businessman. Guber also holds stakes in NBA team Golden State Warriors and MLS franchise Los Angeles Football Club and appears keen to grow his sporting portfolio.

Walter’s personal investments include stakes in plant-based food maker Beyond Meat and online car vendor Carvana. He has been a co-owner of the Dodgers since 2012, when his investment group — including the likes of Magic Johnson — acquired the team for £1.7bn ($2.2bn). Meanwhile, Guber has amassed his fortune through the success of films such as Rain Man, Batman and Midnight Express.

Members of Pagliuca’s consortium were revealed after the Boston Celtics co-owner, who also owns a majority share in Serie A club Atalanta, listed their names as he steps up his attempts to take over the Blues.

Upon announcing that Canadian sports teams’ owner Larry Tanenbaum was joining as co-managing partner in the bid, the Chicago tycoon has also named a number of high-profile executives.

That includes ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger and Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin in his group, They join businesswoman Elaine Saverin, B Capital co-founder Raj Ganguly, venture capitalist Jim Breyer, investor John Burbank, and tech entrepreneur Div Turakhia.

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Tanenbaum, whose investments are through the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment group, said in a statement: “The decision to partner with Steve was an easy one as we share similar values and passion for sports. Once we started speaking, it was clear that we share the same long-term vision and goals for Chelsea.”

It marks an interesting twist in the four-way battle between Boehly, Pagliuca, the Ricketts Family and Sir Martin Broughton to take control of Chelsea, with offers submitted before the deadline in March. There has been strong opposition from fans to the Ricketts family, but the American family remain in contention after US finance firm Raine allowed them to progress.

Raine, along with the Treasury department of the government, will decide on the winning bidder to take control of the club from sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich. All four hopeful consortiums have unveiled plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge and are set to discover their fate in the coming weeks.

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