July 26 – Gerard Lopez has been confirmed as the new owner of Girondins de Bordeaux, saving the Ligue 1 club from bankruptcy.
On Friday, law firm August Debouzy formalised the sale of the French club, and formally announced the takeover in a statement saying: “Following the favorable decision of the Commercial Court of Bordeaux, the sale of the Girondins de Bordeaux club to Gérard Lopez was finalised, making the latter the new owner of the club.”
Earlier this month the businessman and former Lille owner was successful with his business plan to convince France’s financial watchdog DNCG to reverse their decision to relegate the club from the top flight. “The club is saved!” said Lopez. “It’s a great day for Bordeaux and we will now get down to putting in place the sporting and economic project validated this evening.”
The deal Lopez struck for the club is unclear though he is unlikely to have paid any cash though would have had to underwrite some of the debt.
In April, the club was placed under the control of a local commercial court following the decision by King Street, who succeeded M6 as the majority stakeholder in the club in a €70 million takeover in 2018, to withdraw funding for the club. King Street invested €46 million in Bordeaux, but no longer “wished to support the club and finance its current and future needs”. Lopez emerged as a new saviour even as losses were reaching €80 million.
Last season, Lopez was the owner of Lille, the eventual Ligue 1 champions, but he ceded control of the club in December when it became clear that he could not repay a major loan to creditors JP Morgan Chase and Elliott Management.
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