Chelsea takeover faces second enquiry

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH’S takeover of Chelsea was thrust back into the spotlight yesterday as it emerged that a second probe into the club’s shares had been launched.

City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, revealed it was looking into the ownership of Chelsea Village after been tipped off that details of shareholdings before the takeover could have been wrong.

The FSA are looking into “the nature and status of certain shareholdings in Chelsea Village plc in the period preceding the announcement of the bid” by Russian oil tycoon Abramovich amid concerns that the Stock Exchange was “misled”. However, the statement added that the takeover panel understood the enquiries were “unconnected to Chelsea Limited,” the company set up by Abramovich to buy out chairman Ken Bates.

The probe comes on top of a separate investigation into share dealings ahead of the offer by Abramovich’s bid vehicle Chelsea Limited on July 1. Shares in the company, which were valued at just 14p in April, had climbed to 28p before news of the takeover broke prompting fears that some individuals may have benefited financially from prior knowledge of a deal. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any parties involved in the takeover.

The FSA confirmed they had received tip-offs alleging some shareholders of Chelsea Village had not accurately disclosed their position, as all owners of 3% or more of a plc must. Their statement said: “The FSA is conducting enquiries into the nature and status of certain shareholdings in Chelsea Village plc in the period preceding the announcement of the bid on behalf of Chelsea Limited.

“This follows the receipt of information from a number of sources suggesting the publicly disclosed shareholdings of certain parties may have been inaccurate.

“The FSA is concerned that as a consequence the market may have been misled as to the true ownership of Chelsea Village plc.”

Enquiries of this nature are not uncommon in takeover cases and should “matters come to light”, the takeover panel will conduct their own enquiries “at the relevant time”.

Meanwhile, new Chelsea signings Damien Duff and Wayne Bridge have been finding their feet amongst their new team-mates in Kuala Lumpur. Chelsea skipper John Terry said the influx of signings had kept morale high and although the humidity has got to them, he was looking forward to playing Malaysia today.

“The lads have been struggling a little bit and are a little bit tired, but we had a light session today so I fell as if we are okay now,” he said. “The atmosphere is good in the team. We have made four good signings already and it’s good for the other players.”

Ranieri would not confirm whether Duff and Bridge are likely to make their Chelsea debuts against Malaysia, preferring to wait until the morning of the match to assess the fitness of his entire squad.

“I will see how they are and then I will pick the right first 11,” he said.