Toulouse FC, demoted to Ligue 2, was bought by the American investment fund RedBird Capital Partners, announced on Monday the latter, now owner of 85% of the club's shares and who immediately appointed President Damien Comolli, ex - leader of Liverpool, in particular.
A club with "very great potential"
Olivier Sadran, president of the red lantern club of the last L1 before the early cessation of competition due to the coronavirus pandemic, has left office but retains 15% of the capital, said RedBird in a press release. Olivier Sadran had owned the club since 2001 when the team had been relegated to National. The TFC, representing the fourth city in France, is the 9th Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 football club to go under foreign capital after Paris, Lille, Monaco, Nice as well as Auxerre and Sochaux (Ligue 2), the 3rd under the star banner with Marseille and Bordeaux.
"We are proud and happy to contribute to writing a new chapter in the history of the club and thus to realize all its very great potential", wrote Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, quoted in the press release. "We are determined to give the club solid and lasting foundations that will lead it to success, by improving its sports performance on the field and its management as well as by further developing its contribution to the dynamism of the territory", he said. he adds.
"Take" TFC "to the next level"
The new owners say they are "impatient to work closely with Olivier Sadran, the city of Toulouse and the Occitanie region" to "bring Toulouse FC back to the best level" and to contribute "to the influence of Toulouse". "I welcome Gerry and RedBird as new partners in an organization and a city that occupy a big place in my life," replied Olivier Sadran. "I am confident that together we have the energy, expertise and resources to take the club to the next level," he said.
The amount of the transaction was not communicated but the sports daily L'Équipe had recently mentioned the figure of 20 million euros. The TFC, 20th in L1 at the time of the early cessation of competition in mid-March, accepted its relegation to the lower floor at the end of June after having challenged it in vain in court. The "Téfécé" evolved in the elite since 2003.
RedBird Capital Partners, founded in 2014 by Gerry Cardinale, manages more than $ 3 billion in assets. The investment fund is already present in the sports world, notably through baseball (New York Yankees) and American football (Dallas Cowboys) franchises. He also invested in the management of images of high-level athletes.