Le Coq sportif is in a complicated situation. The French sports brand which, in 2020, under the nose and beard of Lacoste, won the sports equipment supplier contract for the French delegation of athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) in Paris in 2024, needs “thirty million euros this year” capital, specified in World Marc-Henri Beausire, president and main shareholder of Le Coq Sportif, through his investment company Airesis. Half of this sum is already “secured in particular with shareholders and banks”assures the one who also hopes to obtain a loan guaranteed by the State under the aid to French companies “affected by the war in Ukraine”.
In 2021, after a year marked by a collapse in sales to 90 million euros due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Le Coq Sportif carried out a capital increase of 2.7 million euros. Two years later, despite recourse to the Rothschild investment bank for this purpose, a new fundraising finally seems to have been ruled out, contrary to what was mentioned the daily The Team in its edition of July 7.
The brand, whose operating losses reached 2 million euros in 2022 for a turnover of 139 million euros, faces significant working capital needs to buy its raw materials on behalf of of its subcontractors and finance, in particular, the production of 1.5 million parts related to its JOP contract.
Retouching on prototypes
Most of this production volume concerns clothing under the Paris 2024 license that Le Coq sportif will market to distributors. Approximately 375,000 of these coins are endowments that Le Coq sportif must provide to Paris 2024 staff and volunteers as well as to French athletes during competitions, medal ceremonies and in the Olympic Village. This wardrobe will not be the one worn by the French delegation during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games scheduled for July 26, 2024; this mission could fall to one of the brands of the LVMH group. On April 20, Bernard Arnault, its CEO, confirmed negotiating a premium partnership contract with Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee (Cojop), and the International Organizing Committee (IOC).
For now, the cameras are focused on Le Coq sportif. Friday, July 7, The Team cast doubt on the ability of the gallinaceous brand to ensure the design of the so-called performance outfits worn by French athletes during competitions. It would come up against technical problems and the veto of certain sports federations, including climbing.
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