'Great deal' for Chelsea - Bates

Chelsea owner Ken Bates has hailed a new era for the Premiership club after he agreed to sell his majority shareholding to a millionaire Russian businessman.

Stamford Bridge chairman Bates has agreed to sell his £17.5m (€25.2m) stake in Chelsea Village to Roman Abramovich.

Abramovich yesterday arranged to pay £29.6m (€42.6m) to buy 84,908,506 Chelsea Village Shares – around 50 million of which are owned by Bates – which gives him an approximate 50.09% share of the Premiership club’s parent company.

“This is a great deal for Chelsea Village, the club and our fans,” said Bates.

“We have achieved an enormous amount over the past 21 years building a fantastic new stadium and a talented team which is firmly established as one of the top clubs in Europe.

“In today’s highly competitive football market, the club will benefit from a new owner with deeper pockets to move Chelsea to the next level.

“I look forward to working with Roman Abramovich to achieve even greater things.”

The 36-year-old Abramovich, who is a major shareholders in one of Russia’s largest oil companies, is a keen follower of sport and international football and owns an ice hockey team in his homeland.

He said: “We are delighted to agree this deal to acquire what is already one of the top clubs in Europe.

“We have the resources and ambition to achieve even more given the huge potential of this great club.”

Abramovich has also pledged to buy more shares in the company and in a statement announcing the deal the club revealed: “The Board of Chelsea Village considers the terms of the offer to be fair and reasonable and, accordingly, will recommend all Chelsea Village Shareholders to accept the offer.”

Abramovich received a legal degree from Moscow State Law Academy before working for Sibneft, the fifth largest Russian oil producer, and subsequently being elected to the board of directors in 1996, a position he held until 2000.

In 1999, he was elected to the lower house of the Russian parliament.

Jonathan Clare, deputy chairman of Citigate Dewe Rogerson, public relations advisers for Abramovich, said the Russian was a billionaire “several times over”.

“This is not a snap decision. His people have been looking at a number of football clubs,” said Clare.

“They were looking for a club that was already good but also had the capability for further development to the highest levels of the game.”

Mr Clare said the club’s new owner planned to do “whatever necessary” to take Chelsea to the highest levels in European football.

He said: “Roman gives few interviews. He is a quiet self-deprecating man but he loves the game.

He watches games and watches Chelsea as well as watching football all over the world.

“The offer is a good one in terms of the way the Chelsea share price has performed.”

However, Chelsea fan Tony Banks MP said on Radio Five Live’s Matthew Bannister show that he had serious concerns about the deal.

Banks said he would meet Richard Caborn MP, Minister for Sport and Tourism, today to discuss his concerns.

“I want to know if this individual is a fit and proper person to be taking over a club like Chelsea and until that question is answered, I’m afraid the jury is out,” he said.

“I would have preferred that the takeover of Chelsea had taken place after these questions had been answered rather than leave us in the situation we are in.

“We know that Chelsea is in financial difficulties and that a deal has been arranged with an individual we know nothing about, with a background we know nothing about, from a country that has a reputation that is not savoury in terms of its financial situation.”

Former Chelsea and England striker Kerry Dixon praised Bates for his dedication to the club, but agreed that many questions remained unanswered.

He said: “Whatever role he has got in the future, Ken Bates has certainly done very well for the club in the 21 years he has been there.

“Chelsea has one of the finest stadiums in the Premiership if not indeed in Europe and that is a tribute to Ken Bates and what he’s actually achieved at the club.

“I hope this is good news. Obviously everyone will be looking and waiting to see exactly what plans the new owners have for the club.

“It’s said that he’s going to take care of the debt and if that is true then at least reporters and people won’t be saying that Chelsea is in debt and that its future is secure.

“Then you get down to the actual situation on the pitch – what players are going to be signed and what contracts are going to be honoured?

“The players that are there at the moment, are they going to be secure and then how indeed does he move the club forward by bringing in new players and what sort of budget does the manager have to spend to improve the team?”