Newsletter

Investment funds reduce debt by 40 million euros to save the club

This is a considerable gesture! And surely that of the last chance. The Girondins of Bordeaux and its creditors, the American investment funds Fortress et King Street, reached a new agreement on the club’s financial debt. According to information from 20 Minutes, the latter agreed to make a major effort to try to save the Marine et Blanc by abandoning… 75% of it! It will simply go from 53 million euros to 13.5 million euros. An extraordinary decision for an investment fund!

To be very precise, in this decrease of 39.5 million euros, Gérard Lopez will take 5 million euros at his expense thanks to a transfer of ownership with perfect delegation and 8 million euros will have a return clause. to better fortune (this sum would go to King Street and Fortress) in the event of a rise in Ligue 1 Girondins de Bordeaux within two years. In the end, the two American investment funds will “sit” on half of the club’s financial debt, that is to say 26.5 million euros. Why this gesture? And why so late? A relative of the file details:

It’s simple, they were up against the wall. Either they did nothing, the club sank for sure and they lost 53 million euros while very badly tarnishing their image. Either they made a move, helped the club get out of it while hoping to recover half of this debt by 2025 [l’échéance de remboursement n’a pas changé] »

An agreement submitted to the commercial court on Friday

To pull off this essential gesture for the survival of the club, Gérard Lopez and his teams had to go out of their way to Fortress and King Street. The Spanish-Luxembourgish businessman made a “deal” with them. He put the 14 million euros in cash on the table to cover the sales of players this summer and in exchange the funds made this effort on the debt. This gesture also shows that they have decided not to leave the club in open country. The Girondins sent a request on Tuesday to the Bordeaux Commercial Court for this agreement to be legally recognized as the precedent presented before the DNCG appeal committee.

But this time, the leaders do not intend to simply obtain an order from the court but outright a judgment on the conciliation agreement opened on June 13 with the creditors of the club according to information from 20 Minutes. This agreement will also include the 14 million euros placed in sequestration by Gérard Lopez and will be closed by the conciliators during the hearing on Friday before being presented to the CNOSF, next Tuesday. Something that the DNCG had reproached the club for on appeal.

A financial situation not so healthy for four years

With these new conditions, the Marine et Blanc would find a financial situation which would never have been so healthy for more than four years and the sale of the M6 ​​club to American investment funds (GACP and King Street at the time). In addition, this drastic reduction in the club’s financial debt will inevitably have very positive consequences on the famous capital of the Girondins, which the DNCG is watching very closely. At the moment T, the Bordeaux file seems very solid when going before the CNOSF in order to obtain mediation with the financial policeman of French football after the administrative demotion to National with behind a possible bankruptcy filing and a judicial liquidation. .

In the event of a favorable opinion from the CNOSF, it will then be up to the Comex of the FFF to validate or not the reinstatement of the Girondins de Bordeaux in Ligue 2. If the CNOSF or the Comex of the FFF retest the file again, the club will then the judge in chambers of the administrative court to have his administrative demotion suspended. But at the moment given the new guarantees provided, no one at the club imagines going that far.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending