Hana Financial Group, C&P Sports join bid to buy Chelsea

Pedestrians walk past Chelsea's stadium Stamford Bridge in London on Friday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Hana Financial Group and sports management firm C&P Sports have joined a consortium led by British property developer Nick Candy in an attempt to buy Premier League football club Chelsea.

The Hana-backed consortium was one of three bids for the football club registered before the deadline at 9 p.m. on Friday, with the U.S.-based Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, also putting in an offer, alongside a partnership between former British Airways chairman Martin Broughton and President of World Athletics Sebastian Coe.

The Chelsea football club was put up for sale by owner Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Russian oligarch has since been sanctioned by the British government, freezing his assets, but the club was granted permission to continue operations.

Since sanctions were introduced, the club has been unable to sell tickets to games or merchandise. The club is allowed to be sold, but Abramovich can not benefit from the proceeds.

According to a statement from Candy, the consortium including Hana and C&P Sports has bid £2 billion ($2.64 billion) for the club. The size of the other bids had not been revealed as of press time.

Hana Financial Group is already heavily invested in football as the main sponsor of the K League and the Korean national football team and the owner of K League 2 club Daejeon Hana Citizen.

According to Korean reports Saturday, the financial group confirmed that it had submitted letters of intent as part of the Candy-led consortium.

C&P Sports is a London-based sports management firm that specializes in linking European football clubs with Korean companies and players, including establishing the partnership between Tottenham Hotspur and Kumho Tire.

"We are in the process of arranging our bid for Chelsea FC," C&P Sports CEO Catalina Kim told Reuters. "Surprisingly enough, despite the size of the economy, there has never been investment into Premier League football clubs made by South Korean capital so far. Now it is time for a change and we are ready to start the new chapter with Chelsea FC."

Heading the consortium, Candy is one half of British property tycoon brothers Christian and Nick Candy. A long-term Chelsea fan, Candy has been working to bring together a consortium to buy the club since the sale was announced.

Candy’s proposal includes a major renovation of Stamford Bridge and also involves former Chelsea striker and manager Gianluca Vialli.

The upheaval in the boardroom has done little to impact Chelsea on the pitch, with the club sitting comfortably in third place in the Premier League having won all of their last five games.

With 10 points separating Chelsea from second-place Liverpool and 11 points from first-place Manchester City, the club are likely to see out the last couple of months of the season in third place.

Chelsea’s deepest ties with Korea on the pitch actually come from the women’s team, where Ji So-yun has played since 2014. Ji is the most successful Korean women’s football player ever, at both the club and international level, and is a staple part of the Chelsea squad.

As of press time, the Chelsea men’s team were due to be back in action on Saturday evening against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, while the women’s team take on Birmingham in the FA Women’s Cup on Sunday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]