Owner of petrochemicals giant Ineos makes last minute bid to buy Chelsea

Ineos north sea — Ineos chairman and owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The chief executive of petrochemicals giant Ineos has made a last minute, £4.25 billion bid to buy Chelsea.

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe held talks with Bruce Buck, the chairman of the English Premier League club yesterday.

And in an interview with The Times, the UK’s richest man confirmed he has launched an eleventh hour attempt to purchase the club.

Ratcliffe told the newspaper: “We put an offer in this morning. We are the only British bid. Our motives are simply to try and create a very fine club in London.”

Two times Champions League winners Chelsea were put up for sale earlier this year before current owner Roman Abramovich was penalised for alleged links to Vladimir Putin.

Westminster has hit the Kremlin and senior Russian figures with a raft of sanctions following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Three other parties are currently in the running for the Stamford Bridge side.

In a statement being shared widely online, Ineos said: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, has made a formal bid for Chelsea FC, for £4.25 billion. £2.5 billion is committed to the Charitable Trust to support victims of the war, with £1.75 billion committed to investment directly into the club over the next 10 years.

Statement | @INEOS pic.twitter.com/2wS3nD3i2R

— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) April 29, 2022

“This is a British bid, for a British club. We believe that a club is bigger than its owners who are temporary custodians of a great tradition. With responsibility to the fans and community.

“That is why we are committing to spending £1.75 billion over 10 years that will be for the direct benefit of the club.

“We will invest in Stamford Bridge to make it a world-class stadium, befitting of Chelsea F.C. This will be organic and on-going so that we will not move away from the home of Chelsea and risk losing the support of loyal fans.”

The company added that “no further comment” would be made during the bidding process.

Ineos Grangemouth Acorn — Ineos’ Grangemouth oil refinery complex processes oil and gas from the Forties pipeline system from the North Sea

Ineos is best known in the sporting world for its sponsorship of the professional cycling squad Team Ineos – it also own French football club Nice and Swiss team Lausanne Sports Football Club.

Ratcliffe founded Ineos, owner of the Grangemouth Refinery in Scotland, in 1998.