Chelski boss goes shopping

RUSSIAN billionaire Roman Abramovich is planning to expand his burgeoning business interests in Britain by buying a London shopping mall.

The new owner of Chelsea Football Club has his sights set on the Fulham Broadway complex just down the road from the Blues' Stamford Bridge ground in west London.

Priced at £95m, the 195,000sq ft site is small change for a man with an estimated personal fortune of £4bn.

He added an estimated £1.8bn last week by selling his half stake in RusAl, Russia's biggest aluminium company.

The Fulham Broadway bid is being handled by Millhouse Capital, the same British-registered investment vehicle that was used by Abramovich to buy Chelsea Village, which apart from the football club also includes bars, restaurants and a hotel.

According to trade magazine Estates Gazette, Abramovich is one of a dozen parties invited to consider a bid for the centre owned by Pillar Property. It contains retail outlets such as Borders book store, JD Sports, Sainsbury and a cinema.

News that Abramovich wants to bolster his empire in Britain provides further evidence that he is looking to relocate here permanently.

Abramovich, 36, is believed to be moving his wealth out of his homeland to escape a Kremlin crackdown on the 'oligarchs' who, like him, made their fortunes during the privatisation of state assets under former President-Boris Yeltsin. Earlier this year he took an estimated $500m (£300m) dividend from Sibneft, the Russian oil company he controls, even though it made a loss.

He has also sold his stake in the former state-owned airline, Aeroflot.

Abramovich will find little beyond his price range. His four-bedroom London flat in exclusive Knightsbridge is on the market for £5m.

He also owns a 450-acre estate at Fyning Hill in Rogate, West Sussex, worth about £12m.