Jim Ratcliffe Courts Chelsea Fans While Awaiting Bid Answer

(Bloomberg) -- British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is trying to build momentum for his late bid for Chelsea Football Club, as he waits for those handling the sale to respond to his 4.25 billion-pound ($5.3 billion) offer.

The founder of chemicals group Ineos Group Ltd. has held early-stage discussions with the influential Chelsea Supporters' Trust about the merits of his proposal, which he announced last week.

“While the CST has had initial talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team, no further meeting is yet in the diary,” Dominic Rosso, CST's vice chairman, said in response to Bloomberg queries on Tuesday.

Ratcliffe is mounting a last-minute challenge to former Guggenheim Partners President Todd Boehly for control of Chelsea. Boehly, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, last week emerged as the frontrunner for the football club after a months-long sale process.

Raine Group, the U.S. advisory firm handling the sale of Chelsea on behalf of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, has yet to respond to Ratcliffe's surprise offer, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

It remains unclear whether Ratcliffe's bid has come too late for consideration. A representative for Raine couldn't immediately be reached for comment, while spokespeople for Chelsea and Raine couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Raine spent weeks weighing offers from consortiums led by Boehly, British businessman Martin Broughton and Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca. During that time, the bidders spent time meeting supporter groups, politicians and even former players to boost their chances of success.

The sale of Chelsea is likely to be one of the biggest-ever transactions involving a sports team. Abramovich put the club on the block in early March, shortly before the U.K. placed him under far-reaching sanctions for his ties to President Vladimir Putin's regime.

Since then, Chelsea has been running under a number of restrictions that have prevented it from selling some matchday tickets and merchandise, as well as stopped it from negotiating new player contracts. It's operating under a special U.K. government license that expires on May 31.

Ratcliffe is worth about $11.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's no stranger to buying football clubs, having previously invested in OGC Nice of France and Switzerland's FC Lausanne-Sport.

His offer for Chelsea comprises a 2.5 billion-pound charitable contribution and a 1.75 billion-pound commitment to invest directly in the club over the next 10 years.

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