According to a statement from Chelsea Village, the soccer club's holding company, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is buying Chelsea for £59.3million ($98.6m) - the biggest deal of its kind in the UK soccer's history.
Abramovich, Russia's second-richest man, has bought a controlling 50.09 percent of Chelsea Village Plc. Bates made £17.5m by selling his entire stake.
Said Bates: "In today's highly competitive football market, the club will benefit from a new owner with deeper pockets to move Chelsea to the next level."
Abramovich, who already owns a Russian ice hockey club, is a the governor of the Russian administrative district of Chukotka and leads the major shareholders in OAO Sibneft, Russia's fifth largest oil company.
In March, Abramovich's investment group also sold a 26 percent stake in Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, to Russia's National Reserve Bank for $135m.
Ken Bates, one of the most controversial English Premier League chairmen, has sold his controlling stake in Chelsea to a Russian billionaire.
