It was a brilliant scene for Olympique Lyonnais (OL), who, on the pitch, did not shine with their performances. It earned them the last position in the Ligue 1 football championship, without a single victory since the start of the season.
Read alsoOL: Jean-Michel Aulas files a complaint against John Textor, the club client who accuses him of having information
OL Groupe, the holding company that oversees the Lyon football club, announced on Wednesday that it had reached a “preliminary agreement for the refinancing of the vast majority of its debt and that of its subsidiary Olympique Lyonnais SASU in the amount of €320 million over the long term. “The deal was signed “with an organization of world-leading monetary institutions,” CEO John Textor said in an OLG statement, adding that he was “extremely pleased with Goldman Sachs’ leadership as an advisor in connection with this refinancing. “
“This is a decisive measure that will allow OL Groupe and its subsidiary Olympique Lyonnais SASU to settle the balance of long-term ‘stadium’ debt, state-guaranteed loans taken out during the Covid years and other debts subscribed to individuals (including Holnest, the holding company of Jean-Michel Aulas, now a minority shareholder),” explains OL Groupe.
“In addition, this new financing is expected to be more flexible for the Group in several respects, including the elimination of very extensive restrictive commitments contained in existing financing agreements under which certain decisions of the Group were subject to prior approval of credits. “
Rating agencies KBRA Europe and DBRS Morningstar have respectively assigned an indicative monetary score of BBB and BBB to the proposed structure, OL Groupe reported. The end date of the new financing, i. e. the effective date of completion of the transaction, is expected to occur on December 31, 2023, subject to agreement on final documentation and compliance with standard conditions.
“The confirmation of the major credit rating agencies and the quality of our new investors are a testament to the strength of the OL brand, the improvement of the group’s monetary position and the soundness of its business plan for the future,” Textor said on Wednesday.
OL is due to appear before the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) at the end of November for a re-examination of its monetary situation. This summer, French soccer’s monetary police imposed restrictive measures on its payroll and payments that penalized the team in its hiring. “On a sporting level, the club’s ambition continues to be a recurring participation in the European Cup,” the club confided at the end of October, although it admitted “a difficult start to the 23/24 season”.
Despite a rising turnover, the OL Group’s accounts sank further into the red in 2022-2023, compared to the last financial year, according to reports published at the end of October by the holding company that oversees Olympique Lyonnais. As of 30 June, the group’s gross operating surplus was negative, at -€1. 8 million, which the club had controlled to reverse the post-Covid situation (€15. 9 million) in 2021. 2022, according to the release. If the total turnover amounts to €289. 7 million, an increase of 15% and the club has solid assets, with the value of the men’s professional team estimated at €274 million, the holding company announced a net loss of €99 million. a sharp increase compared to the €55 million recorded in 2021-2022.
The organisation attributes these poor results to the “inflationary context”: “electricity prices” have “multiplied by three” and workers’ collective prices have increased considerably (from €14. 5 million to €156. 7 million) with the “revaluation of wages”. ” but also the disappearance of the USSRAF aid related to the Covid crisis. The arrivals of the club’s star striker Alexandre Lacazette and midfielder Corentin Tolisso, the club’s two biggest earners, are also putting pressure on finances.
However, OLG wants to reassure and specifies that “a significant number of player contract transfers were made in the months of July and August 2023”, but will not be recorded until the first quarter of 2023-2024, in particular sales to French clients. Bradley Barcola to PSG and Castello Lukeba to Leipzig for a total of 75 million euros without bonuses. Disposals of player contracts valued at 92. 1 million euros in the 2022-2023 financial year. They bring Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta to West Ham for 36 million euros. The French right-backs Malo Gusto to Chelsea (29 million euros) and Leo Dubois to Galatasaray (2. 4 million euros). Ticket sales at Groupama Stadium amounted to 37. 7 million euros (-4%). Better ticket sales in the French league (47%) have well compensated for the loss of European prices: the club, seventh in the standings last year, failed to qualify for the European Cup. Television rights increased by 58%, to 85. 3 million euros.
Control of the club in the midst of a crisis
This year was also marked by the acquisition of OL Groupe last December through the Eagle company of the American businessman John Textor, who is in litigation with Jean-Michel Aulas, who was removed as chairman in May.
According to Le Progrès, the new coach is asking the court to reimburse him for the €10 million earned through his past Jean-Michel Aulas following the sale of the club to Eagle Football, who, for his part, had filed a defamation complaint at the end. In August, John Textor claims that he had hidden from him.
(With AFP)
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