Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak, who showed interest in buying the Premier League club Chelsea said on Wednesday that his club was preparing an offer by Friday, but was looking for a nod from ousted owner Roman Abramovich.
In an interview with Reuters, Bayrak said his company AB Group Holding was informed by the British government – who took over the supervision of the Premier League club after targeting Abramovich with penalties – that any offer should be deposited by Friday.
Bayrak said he expected offers for Chelsea are hovering around £ 1 billion ($ 1.3 billion), roughly half the 2.2 billion pounds him says his company was ready to pay Abramovich in the days before the oligarch e team owner was hit from sanctions linked to the Russian ones invasion of Ukraine.
by Chelsea market value should reflect the fact that the club recently lost sponsorship deals, he told Reuters.
“The situation has changed since he was transferred to government”Bayrak said.
Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for at £ 140 million ($ 184 million) and owned the club through its most successful era.
Cryptocurrency
Some Turks media they wondered if Bayrak’s company has any interests in construction, real real estate and cryptocurrency, has the financial firepower a buy Chelsea, saying the businessman was perhaps looking for publicity.
Bayrak denied this and said he had the necessary funds. “We will ask the question by Friday,” he told his Istanbul office.
Bayrak said he had £ 1 billion in cash available and could easily take out loans if larger amount it was necessary.
In addition, his initial offer to Abramovich included $ 400 million in cash worth of the company’s cryptocurrency and the transfer of ownership of Certain real real estate projects.
“Our companies are flirting,” Bayrak said. “They were not just speaking of Chelsea but of partnership on projects “.
Abramovich’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Department of Great Britain for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport were not in able to do so comment. While not directly involved in the sales process, the government I wanted issue a license for the sale if it is happy with The conditions.
Before being sanctioned by Britain, Abramovich had said he would sell the London club but he is now operating under a special government licensed and Premier League board disqualified him as a club director.
Abramovič was also between several Russian billionaires added to a European Union blacklist this week.
Bayrak said he intended to meet Abramovich in person within this week in Turkey to get his blessing for any business. According to Bayrak, the two men first spoken by telephone of a possible to deal in delay last month and met in Istanbul about two weeks ago.
There was a jet connected to Abramovich in Istanbul earlier this week and it was also in Turkey from 5 to 12 March, according to data from Flightradar24.
The president of the AB Group has accredited his business partner Barbaros Sağdıç, a Turkish architect who He was involved in projects in Russia and has connections in the Russian business community, with help the company establish a link with Abramovich.
