Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton join £3bn Chelsea bid

Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton have teamed up to bid for Chelsea Football Club. The tennis star and Formula 1 champion have joined the bid led by City grandee Martin Broughton and private equity billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer. The club was put up for sale by sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich with a price tag of around £3bn. US financier Todd Boehly is leading a rival offer for Chelsea backed by Clearlake Capital, while sports moguls Stephen Pagliuca and Larry Tanenbaum also submitted an offer last week. A fourth group, backed by Chicago’s Ricketts family, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, dropped out of the auction last week. Merchant bankers at Raine Group are handling the sale process, which is entering the final stages, with an announcement on a preferred bidder expected as soon as next week. The FT (£)