The takeover of the Lille club, current leader of the Ligue 1 championship, by the Luxembourg investment fund Merlyn Partners was still not effective this Thursday evening. Discussions between the future entrant and former owner Gérard Lopez are continuing, and the agreement could be reached in the coming days. For his part, Lopez is still in negotiations with the Elliott fund, his main creditor, to sell him the northern club. There would be no link but it appears over the days that the debt of the LOSC, an estimated time of 123 million euros, would be a little less than 200 million euros.
Despite this record debt, Merlyn Partners, who must appoint Olivier Létang as president at the head of the Mastiffs as soon as the agreement is concluded, does not envisage sales of players next January other than in the normal context of a winter transfer window. . The elements lacking playing time could in particular be concerned, but little more.
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The Luxembourg fund, owned by a Dutchman named Maarten Petermann, has already planned to inject cash to ensure the operation of the club hard hit by the consequences of the health crisis and the decline in resources (ticket office at half mast, TV rights …). Debt, the real burden of the Lopez mandate between 2017 and 2020, will have to be cleared by the new majority shareholder. In its press release, Merlyn presents itself as “an investment fund mainly active on the European market, on assets whose financial solidity it reinforces in order to ensure their long-term success”.
