As potential investors race to put together bids to buy Chelsea Football Club from Roman Abramovich, Nick Candy has been described as 'actively exploring a number of options' for a proposal that could make him the new chief of Stamford Bridge.
49-year-old Candy is looking for American partners and has already been linked with a £2.5bn offer that would include a proposal for a £1.5bn redevelopment of the stadium.
Who is Nick Candy?
Candy is a property developer who has made his fortune building homes for the rich and wealthy in the UK and United States. He started out in the industry with younger brother Christian in 1995 when they bought a flat together in the Earl's Court area of London with a £6,000 loan from their grandmother and renovated to turn a £50,000 profit in 18 months
The brothers continued to buy up property to flip for the remainder of the 1990s alongside full-time jobs, before going into property full-time. They run separate businesses but have collaborated.
High profile developments came throughout the 2000s, including One Hyde Park, NoHo Square and the Chelsea Barracks. The Candy brothers also took things stateside in 2007 to work on an ill-fated project in California. In 2021, Nick put his own penthouse in One Hyde Park up for sale at £175m.
In his personal life, Candy has twins from a previous relationship with socialite Emily Crompton, but has been married to Australian actress and singer Holly Valance since 2012 - Katy Perry was paid £1.2m to sing at their wedding in Beverley Hills. He and his wife have two daughters together.
Candy was the lead fundraiser for Conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and was reported to have have donated £100,000 to the Conservative party in March 2020.
Nick Candy net worth
Individually, Candy is believed to have an estimated net worth between £800m and £850m. Together with his brother Christian, they are believed to be jointly worth £1.5bn.
Where is Nick Candy from?
Candy is British and grew up in Surrey, where he attended the famous Epsom College. He later studied human geography at the University of Reading.
He is a lifelong Chelsea fan and several of his biggest business deals have been in and around west London. It is his knowledge of property, west London and Chelsea that is said to be attractive to his potential investment partners for any takeover bid.
Will Nick Candy buy Chelsea?
There are so many potential new owners coming forward to buy Chelsea, so it's impossible to say whether Candy will be successful or not.
However, a spokesperson for Candy has publicly outlined his intention to buy the club and revealed he is a childhood supporter.
"Mr Candy is actively exploring a number of options for a potential bid for Chelsea," a spokesperson said. "Any bid would be made in conjunction with another party and we have serious interest from several international partners.
"Mr Candy has a huge affinity with Chelsea. He has been watching matches at Stamford Bridge since the age of four. The club deserves a world-class stadium and infrastructure and Mr Candy's unique expertise and background in real estate would be a hugely valuable asset to delivering this vision."
Who else wants to buy Chelsea?
As part of a consortium, Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss are believed to have made the first formal offer to buy Chelsea, while Sir Jim Ratcliffe - often described as Britain's richest man - is also known to be interested, as exclusively revealed by 90min.
Jamie Reuben, who is a director at Newcastle and whose father and uncle - the Reuben Brothers - own a 10% stake in the Magpies is also in the early stages of considering fronting a bid. Other rumoured suitors at this stage include the Ricketts family, who own baseball team Chicago Cubs, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, and a Saudi Arabian-based media company.
Turkish tycoon Muhsin Bayrak has also claimed to be progressing with a takeover deal, although it hasn't been established whether his interest is credible.
One more unlikely hopeful buyer is UFC fighter Conor McGregor, worth £135m. The Irishman has previously expressed an interest in buying Manchester United but, regarding Chelsea, recently put a post out on Twitter accompanied with the brief caption: "I wish to explore this."
Why is Roman Abramovich selling Chelsea?
After a proposed passing of stewardship of the club into the hands of the Chelsea Foundation failed, Abramovich revealed in early March that he would sell the club.
That news came after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the United Kingdom threatening sanctions on Russian oligarchs associated with the government or president Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich has claimed that all net proceeds from the sale will be donated to victims of war in Ukraine. He is personally owed £1.5bn by Chelsea, having bought the club for £140m in 2003, but says he will not ask for any loans to be repaid.
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Source : 90min