The American entrepreneur John Textor (56) has just been presented this Tuesday afternoon at Parc OL as the new majority shareholder of Olympique Lyonnais.
His next arrival at the head of the club, announced in a press release from OL Groupe on Monday evening, is accompanied by the maintenance of Jean-Michel Aulas for "at least three years" as CEO of OL.
Sports economist Jean-Pascal Gayant deciphers for
20 Minutes
the challenges of this choice of a new era in Lyon.
Even the Lyon supporters, unbeatable on the notion of EBITDA thanks to Jean-Michel Aulas, could not grasp all the subtleties of the interminable press release from OL Groupe published Monday evening.
The day after the opening of exclusive negotiations with the American group Eagle Football Holdings, for the acquisition of 66.56% of the club's shares,
20 Minutes
examines with the sports economist Jean-Pascal Gayant the subtleties of this launch. new era at OL, with
John Textor as new
boss .
What strikes you first in the major financial operation unveiled Monday evening by OL Groupe?
It's interesting to see how Jean-Michel Aulas prepared his exit with great subtlety, as a shrewd businessman.
He obviously found common ground with John Textor, staying on as chairman for at least three years to ensure the transition.
He entrusts his club to someone he trusts.
It is not a pure investment fund but really someone who wants to be an invested club boss, eager to watch what is happening on the sporting level.
He will not be there to try to make money from future American pensioners who want to resell the club after six years.
To my knowledge, there is no risk of being faced with a
leveraged buy-out
[LBO, or leveraged purchase], as Gérard Lopez can do.
John Textor has enough financial strength.
Since Monday evening, we have been talking about “exclusive negotiations”, but the outcome does not seem to be in any doubt, unlike for example ASSE in 2018 with Peak6 Investments, right?
Given the state of progress, it smells very good, even if it can always fall apart at the last moment.
We feel that nothing is improvised, like Jean-Michel Aulas.
He is someone who is all in control in the business field, two steps ahead, and we feel that he has very largely determined the profile of the transition.
Aren't you surprised to see so many details appear in the press release, until Jean-Michel Aulas is maintained as CEO for at least three years?
I have never seen anything so detailed and clear.
It's really a business practice listed on the stock exchange and it has nothing to do with what happened in Marseilles with McCourt or in Nice with Ratcliffe.
We feel that this project was put together in an extremely chiseled way.
This communication is a bit American.
In the business world, we like to have precise and complete financial information.
It must be said that a takeover bid (OPA) is in place, and that requires transparency of information to be able to carry it out.
Reading this press release, how do you think the decisions at the head of the club will be organized?
We are really on a thoughtful transmission of power operation from Jean-Michel Aulas to John Textor.
This transmission design is very framed and interesting for the preservation of OL Groupe.
We feel that Jean-Michel Aulas' desire is to anticipate, plan and control the transition.
What does the presence of John Textor, as a shareholder, in three other professional clubs (Botafogo, Crystal Palace and Molenbeek) mean to you?
It's a bit like the City Group or Red Bull phenomenon, which owns between five and ten clubs in the world.
We can lend players, have a complementarity between the clubs by changing a few pawns, and apply certain common principles in terms of training.
From a multinational perspective, there may be branches all over the place, with standardized production and a market logic.
The idea is to create empires, multinationals, and that affects the sporting spectacle today.
As in any industrial sector, this practice makes it possible to attenuate the consequences of hazards: we can afford to have a branch where things are not going well sportingly.
The most important thing is that the others are profitable.
We are in a logic of portfolio diversification in the very broad sense.
The internationalization of sports entertainment groups is in full development.
The territorial logic is important for American investors and John Textor in this case chose Lyon, Brussels, London and Rio, only very large metropolises.
Lyon has many advantages for a long-term investment like the one that is looming there.
With the announced capital increase of 86 million euros, should we expect a huge summer transfer window for OL?
This new capital contribution can allow OL (8th in Ligue 1 this season) to pass other clubs with a view to qualifying for the Champions League.
The new money can be used to prepay part of the stadium or the Arena, but I'm not sure that's the chosen option.
It will leave room for maneuver in the transfer window, where this cash can be mobilized.
We must not forget that OL will also receive 90 million euros from the LFP's commercial company, after the arrival of the CVC investment fund.
Between the young people from the training and potentially interesting recruits to come in addition to Lacazette, we can therefore imagine a real competitiveness of OL next season.
How can John Textor behave on the sporting level this summer, when we know that he kept President Thierry Dailly in Molenbeek (Belgian D2) but also prompted a change of coach upon his arrival in Botafogo (Brazil)?
As he has planned for Jean-Michel Aulas to remain OL president for at least three years, this indicates that he trusts his governance and his coaching choices.
He's not crazy, he knows less about football than Aulas, and what's more about this club.
He leaves with the idea of largely leaving the keys to her for another three years.
He will learn from his contact, it will be a sharing of experience and it allows a smooth transition.
If Aulas wants to keep Peter Bosz, he will accept it.
I would be surprised if he arrived with preconceived ideas to change everything at OL.
But we're still going to see John Textor emerge, because he has to take his marks and impose his mark, since he's going to be the boss.
The idea is to allow a smooth transition, so that Olympique Lyonnais is not destabilized.
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