Girondins de Bordeaux: an agreement reached for the sale of the club
The Bordeaux club, in great financial difficulty, has concluded a buyout agreement with the English fund Park Bench to avoid liquidation.
Quick Look
- The Girondins de Bordeaux have reached a buyout agreement with the English fund Park Bench, presented to the commercial court.
- This plan provides for debt restructuring and agreements with creditors to avoid liquidation and evolve into Regional 1.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Girondins de Bordeaux club is facing a major financial crisis threatening its professional existence. The takeover by Park Bench is a rescue attempt to keep the club in business.
The Girondins of Bordeaux are finally seeing some lightening at the end of a particularly dark summer. According to Sud-Ouest, representatives of Gérard Lopez and the English investment fund Park Bench announced Wednesday to the Bordeaux commercial court that they had reached an agreement for the sale of the club. A step forward which could allow the Marine et Blanc to avoid judicial liquidation and continue their activity in Regional 1.
The takeover must be accompanied by a profound financial restructuring. The debt concerned, estimated at 26 million euros, would be reduced to around 13 million, while the continuation plan would increase from ten to twelve years. Gérard Lopez, who would have to sell his securities for a symbolic euro, would also waive his debts as well as his return to better fortune clause. Discussions are also planned with the State and the AGS in order to reschedule or reduce certain debts.
The agreement reached with Vladimir Petkovic constitutes another important piece of the assembly. The former Bordeaux coach, dismissed in February 2022, claimed with his assistant Antonio Manicone more than 15 million euros before the industrial tribunal. The settlement finally reached would reduce compensation to 1.9 million euros for Petkovic and 250,000 euros for Manicone. At the same time, the debt still owed to Fortress, the fund which financed the takeover of the club in 2018, would increase from 2.5 to 1.6 million euros.
However, several steps remain before Bordeaux can consider its future definitively secure. The rent for the Stade Atlantique must still be negotiated with the Metropolis, for an announced amount of 500,000 euros per year, while the complete documents must be transmitted and validated by the commercial court and by the regional club control committee of the Ligue de Nouvelle-Aquitaine. This last validation will notably condition the presence of the Girondins in Pool B of Regional 1.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Validation of the continuation plan by the commercial court.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Final validation by the commercial court.
- Acceptance of the conditions by the League of New Aquitaine.
