Chelsea co-owner buys Mayfair flat worth $70m

Behdad Eghbali extending London ties as club's performance shows signs of improvement

Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali purchased a flat at the start of the summer, in a building featuring a cinema, swimming pool and spa, in London's Mayfair district. Visionhaus

Chelsea FC co-owner Behdad Eghbali has bought a luxury penthouse in London’s Mayfair area for more than £56 million ($70 million).

The American-Iranian tycoon purchased the flat at the start of the summer in a building featuring a cinema, swimming pool and spa, according to a UK filing. The deal makes it the most expensive flat bought in London this year, Bloomberg reported.

In 2023, Mr Eghbali bought an apartment in the same neighbourhood for about £34 million. The deal suggests he is extending his roots in London as Chelsea’s on-field performances this season have shown signs of improvement.

Since buying the club with Todd Boehly in 2022, Mr Eghbali has been spending more time in the UK at home and away matches. A representative for Mr Eghbali declined to comment.

Clearlake Capital owns a stake of more than 60 per cent of Chelsea, with the rest held by investors led by Mr Boehly, who became the public face of the club in the early days of the acquisition.

Mr Boehly has scaled back his involvement in Chelsea after the team recorded its worst English Premier League performance in 29 years, finishing 12th, in the bottom half of the table.

London’s luxury property market is in the midst of a slump partly caused by increases in stamp duty and the abolition of a preferential tax status enjoyed by ultra-rich UK residents officially domiciled overseas.

Residential sales above £5 million tumbled 23 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024, data from broker Savills show, pointing to the worst year since 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic locked down London.

Still, some mega-deals defied the slump, including American billionaire Tom Ford’s purchase of a Chelsea mansion for more than £80 million.

While it is unclear if Mr Eghbali negotiated a discount, more than a third of homes sold in Mayfair and the neighbouring district of St James’s in the year through October underwent reductions in prices, according to researcher LonRes. Some sellers have resorted to discounts of about 30 per cent.