- Since the acquisition of GACP shares, King Street has been the sole owner of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
- The American investment fund, still as silent, leaves many doubts about its sports strategy with the club but reaffirms its commitment.
- If the buyers have positioned themselves well, the current owner has dismissed them for the moment.
Who are they ? What do they want to do with the club? These questions Girondins de Bordeaux supporters have been asking them very often for more than a year. And even more since December 16. Indeed since that day, King Street, then majority owner of the club (86%), has become the exclusive owner of the club with the purchase of GACP shares.
Its takeover, its leaders had not really planned. As they had not planned to invest in such a project at the start: “It is not in their strategy to manage a football club of 65 million euros [the budget of the club]. It is, moreover, their very first investment in sport, ”recalls from the outset a financier from the City of London. But at the time GACP succeeded in convincing them and in particular Niklas Von Daehne (ex-employee of King Street and still member of the board of directors of Girondins). “He was the one leading the case for them. He asked a lot of questions. If he hadn't been there, King Street wouldn't have been there, ”said a club member.
[Club press release]
➡ https://t.co/QKHDSYWD2N
Anonymity very annoying for some, normal for others
Today, the investment fund is there and there. However, there is this paradox: no leader of this American company has ever spoken publicly, especially in the fall crisis. “I met Frédéric Longuépée [CEO of the club]. He informed me that he would be the person responsible for King Street. It is with him that I must speak for all that relates to the future ”, explained at the beginning of January Paulo Sousa, the trainer of the Girondins. Finally, the only thing we know about the leaders of King Street are the names of its members appointed to the board of directors of the Girondins: Daniel Ehrmann, Julius Kling, Graham Morrison and Rafael Coste-Campos. Some are sometimes present at the stadium as will be the case on Sunday (9pm) against Marseille.
If for many, this anonymity is surprising or even annoying as for the Ultramarines (the largest group of Bordeaux supporters) who have asked to meet these owners for weeks, it is completely normal for others. Antoine, who rubs shoulders with them regularly, recalls that “everything is a story of discretion in finance and especially with these investment funds. They especially don't want to be on the front line! They very often delegate management and they watch the result at the end. GACP was there for that. Now it's Frédéric Longuépée's turn.
Who is Frédéric Longuépée, the new boss of the Girondins? https://t.co/8jK95UxI9G
- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) January 11, 2020This form of communication is increasingly common in the world of football. Relatives of the investment fund cite the examples of Chelsea, Manchester City or even the PSG "where the owners are extremely silent like the emir Al-Thani who never speaks" while another pointed out that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has been very discreet since Leonardo's return ”. In Bordeaux, the only word to speak comes down to an official press release on December 16 where the investment fund “reassures all of the club's stakeholders, its employees, sports teams, supporters and institutions about its commitment in the long term within the club "and a statement by Frédéric Longuépée:" King Street is committed to the Girondins for a long time ".
An illegible sports project today
The blur remains on the project itself. According to our information since the repurchase of the shares of GACP, the American leaders left the calculators to see if their sports investment will be worth it. “We must not forget that it is an investment fund. It seeks profitability and much more than a conventional business. Then you have to put it all in context. For them, the Girondins are an SME. It is nothing compared to their other businesses which are going very well ”, affirms Damien, one of their collaborators. As a reminder, King Street manages a portfolio of assets of 19 billion euros and in the world of finance is considered by many in the industry as "a beautiful investment fund".
Despite this, critics have multiplied over the past year on the lack of investment by owners. A member of the new management denies it:
I do not understand these criticisms. They put 100 million euros on the table to buy the club, they just made a transfer to almost 10 million euros [Rémi Oudin] and I can testify that our requests internally, they are often validated. They just have more rigorous management! Before, here, everyone could commit money without any process.
For his part, a former employee adds that he “never saw anything borderline and that they never used it in the pockets of the Girondins like others. King Street also made a comfort letter to the DNCG (National Directorate of Management Control) last June to vouch for the club's debts. It must be said that the financial situation is quite worrying and followed very closely by the authorities of French football. According to our information during the passage before the DNCG, on June 30, 2019, the management presented a balance sheet with a debt of more than 40 million euros.
Since the Girondins are doing everything possible to fill this hole with in particular the sale of the most "bankable" players and the departure of the biggest salaries of the club. Jules Koundé, the club's hope, was sold last summer in Seville for 25 million euros while his friend from the training center Aurélien Tchouaméni joined AS Monaco this winter for almost 20 million euros. If these operations remain good sales, they very clearly question the sports project in the medium term. A vagueness that is not likely to calm exhausted Bordeaux supporters who are demanding the departure of these new owners. Is the objective to restore financial balance before reselling the club? "If King Street bought the shares of GACP, it is because they have the firm conviction that this club has a lot of potential if it is managed properly," said one of their leaders.
End of inadmissibility to possible buyers for now
One thing is certain, a very short-term resale is to be excluded. Buyers have tried to test the ground in recent weeks but they have received no response to the image of Bruno Fievet. This lover of the club says he has a recovery project: "I have sixty families ready to invest in the Girondins and more generally in the Bordeaux region. Even if our project is very different, that does not mean that the one on King Street has no future. We can give this project a chance to succeed, but clearly if they are one day sellers, we will make a proposal, ”he explains to 20 Minutes.
According to reports from 20 Minutes , one of the 100 largest fortunes in the world who recently tried to buy a London club, learned about the club's situation in December without going any further. For its part, King Street has planned a next stage next June when crossing the DNCG. By then, we shouldn't know much more…
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