After several postponements, the sale of OL Groupe to the American company Eagle Football took place on Monday 19 December. Jean-Michel Aulas retains the operational presidency for at least three years.
Good things come to those who wait for. After several postponements and fears of cancellation, the sale of Olympique Lyonnais to American businessman John Textor, initially scheduled for the end of September, has just been completed on Monday, December 19. The news was announced by OL Groupe, the holding company which owns the Rhone group, and Eagle Football, the buying company. “Today represents a new beginning for Olympique Lyonnais. After four months of constructive negotiations marked by a common understanding with Jean-Michel Aulas and all our partners, we are proud to reach this exceptional agreement.said John Textor.
As provided for in the contracts, Eagle Football is buying all the shares and bonds of Pathé and IDG, the club’s historical shareholders, as well as all the shares and 50% of the bonds of Holnest, Jean-Pierre’s investment company. Michael Aulas. This last “will keep the operational presidency of Olympique Lyonnais for at least three years and will remain surrounded by his team“says John Textor. The American group now holds 77.49% of the capital of OL Groupe. The whole thing was valued at around 884 million euros.
A vital operation for the financial health of the club
John Textor struggled to raise all the necessary funding, hence the many postponements. Take in account the “ significant progress carried out over the weeks, OL Groupe granted additional time, before a final deadline of December 7, which itself was not respected. On December 10, the parties finally announced the “ lifting of all restrictions on the operation » as well as a date of closing to December 19. One of the last blocking points was the contribution in kind to Eagle Football of the participation of John Textor in the English club of Crystal Palace. A necessary contribution to obtain the last financing, and which had to be approved by both the club and the Premier League.
The success of the operation is vital for the club, which is struggling to recover from the Covid-19 period and has a consequent debt (331 million euros), in addition to significant losses (-55 million euros for the 2021/2022 financial year). The refinancing of the debt, its partial repayment (50 million euros) as well as the capital increase of 86 million euros planned by Eagle Football must ensure at least in the short term the good financial health of the club. Laurent Blanc’s men will now be able to focus on sport. OL are currently 8e of Ligue 1 with only six victories in fifteen games. Next match in Brest on Wednesday 28 December.