We will have to wait a little longer before OL definitively go under the American flag.

The formalization of the takeover of OL Groupe, the holding company which oversees Olympique Lyonnais by the American billionaire John Textor has indeed been deferred, the group evoking Friday technical stages still to be finalized.

“The company will update the market as soon as these discussions have been concluded and a new date has been set.

These discussions should be concluded in the very next few days, ”said a press release from OL Groupe regarding this takeover valued at nearly 800 million euros.


According to the group, it remains "for the parties to finalize in the coming weeks the legal documentation, in particular for the main financing of Eagle Football, and the mechanical steps necessary for the successful completion of the operation, so that the completion of the operation cannot take place on September 30, 2022, as initially planned”.

Textor surrounds itself with strong investors

Through Eagle Football Holdings LLC, John Textor is to acquire all of the shares and half of the Osranes (bonds convertible into shares to finance the construction of the Groupama stadium) held by Holnest - the holding company of the Aulas family -, plus the all of the shares and Osranes held by Pathé and the Chinese investment fund IDG Capitals.

Holnest holds 27.72% of the capital.

Pathé and IDG, which have 19.36% and 19.85% respectively, announced on March 9 that they wanted to sell their shares by mandating the Raine bank to do so.

However, to finance the operation, Textor, which must initially take 79% of the shares against 8% for Holnest, does not come alone.

The American businessman relied on investors like James Salter (owner of around thirty brands like Reebok and Sports illustrated) and Bill Foley (owner of the Las Vegas ice hockey club).

John Textor is already present in the capital of the London club Crystal Palace and majority shareholder of Botafogo, in Brazil, and RWD Molenbeek (2nd Belgian div.).

Ares as backup

Recent doubts had been raised in the media, especially after Foley's share of financing was refused by the banks.

But a very powerful new investor has entered into the takeover.

This is Ares Credit Group, one of the four units of the American alternative investment company Ares Management Corporation, which in 2021 took a stake in Atlético Madrid.

“We must not let people think that things could not be done.

The signed agreement is a firm agreement without condition precedent from the beginning.

(…) Nothing raises questions, ”repeated Jean-Michel Aulas in an interview with

L'Equipe

on September 20.

The agreement also provides for a capital increase of 86 million euros intended for debt reduction and, for another part, for the sports sector, recorded by the EGM in July.

At the end of the process, OL, seven times champion of France, will become the eleventh French club bought by a foreign investor, even if Jean-Michel Aulas, at the head of the club since 1987, will remain executive president within the framework of a contract of three years.


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  • Sport

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  • Olympique Lyonnais (OL)

  • Jean Michel Aulas

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  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes