Arnault family's Paris FC takeover completed / Photo: © AFP/File
Arnault family's Paris FC takeover completed
Second-tier French football club Paris FC announced on Friday the family of France's richest person Bernard Arnault had purchased a controlling stake in the outfit.
The Arnault family, which owns the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, via its Agache holding company, has become majority shareholder of the Ligue 2 side with energy drinks giant Red Bull also acquiring a minority stake.
Agache has a stake of 52.4% and Red Bull 10.6% while Alter Paris has 29.8% and BRI 7.2%.
"This step we've just taken is an important moment in the life and history of the club," the Parisians' former majority owner and president Pierre Ferracci.
"With the arrival of Agache Sports and Red Bull, Paris FC hands itself the means to have ambitious objectives.
"I'm particularly proud of this happy outcome and I would like to thank the Arnault family and Red Bull as well as all those, for a long time for some, less time for others, who have contributed to the progress of the club," he added.
Red Bull have also invested in clubs such as RB Leipzig in Germany and RB Salzburg in Austria.
Ferracci remains involved with the outfit thanks to Alter Paris while BRI represents mobile phone operator Lyca Mobile.
"A new board has been put in place," Paris FC said.
"It reflects the majority position of the Arnault family and the presence of Red Bull," they added.
On November 20, Bernard Arnault's son Antoine said Paris FC would not come under Red Bull's multi-club ownership model.
In 2027, Ferracci, who has been at the helm of the club since 2012, will leave and the Arnault family's share will increase to around 80 percent. Red Bull's will grow to 15 percent.
Antoine Arnault said the new owner's primary ambition will be overseeing Paris FC's promotion to France's Ligue 1 from the second division -- of which they are currently the leaders.
Promotion would mean for the first time in more than 30 years there would be two clubs from the French capital in the top flight, with Paris FC joining powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain.
In order to compete with France's -- and eventually Europe's -- top teams, the Arnault family will make a "substantial" investment but also rely upon the footballing expertise of Red Bull, with Antoine Arnault sharing that he had already had conservations with the Austrian company's new head of football Jurgen Klopp.
LVMH's high profile and highly visible product placement in the Paris Olympic Games, designing medals, ceremonial uniforms and presentation trays, raised eyebrows and created some tensions with the Games' long-term sponsors.
Paris FC play their home games at the 19,000-capacity Stade Charlety and their training ground is near Orly airport, to the south of the capital city.
(U.Kabuchyn--DTZ)
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