“Everything is signed”, announced on Tuesday the president of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas about the acquisition of a majority stake in OL Groupe by Eagle Football Holdings, belonging to the American John Textor, already owner of several football clubs.
“We agreed, we shook hands overnight (from Sunday to Monday, editor’s note) in video, and at 3 a.m. Monday everything was signed,” said Jean-Michel Aulas, specifying that a board of directors had validated the operation on Monday. This provides for a complete buyout of the shares of Pathé and IDG (respectively 19.36% and 19.85% of the capital) and a gradual sale of Holnest, the family holding company of Jean-Michel Aulas, which holds 27.72 % of capital.
Aulas will retain his post “at least three years”
At the end of this agreement, Jean-Michel Aulas, 73, also specified that he would keep his post for “at least three years”. “John wanted me to stay (…), it was not an obligation but a wish of the fans” and of all those who participate in the life of the club, he said. The American obviously wanted to reassure during the press conference: “I am here as a resource”, he stressed several times.
“OL have built an incredible balance between sport and entertainment”, especially with their Arena stadium, he also underlined. The listed group, he insisted, “has already spread its wings beyond borders, it is a brand known everywhere, it is the twentieth club in the world, I do not see why I will come all to change”.