It agitates behind the scenes on the side of Olympique Lyonnais after the DNCG decision, at first instance, to relegate the club to Ligue 2 for next season. In a very shortened time before appealing to the financial gendarme appeal commission, OL will have to find solutions. Ares, the main lender of the American owner to buy the club in 2022, could decide to regain control.
“The call is a pistol in one blow”. This little sentence of an informed source shows the importance of the next deadline of Olympique Lyonnais before the DNCG appeal commission. For a few hours, and the announcement of the relegation of OL in Ligue 2 by the same DNCG, a name becomes familiar with club supporters: Ares Management. This “Private Equity” fund (investment capital) had enabled John Textor to buy Olympique Lyonnais in 2022. The American owner had borrowed $ 405 million in Ares, at a rate of 13% for this operation.
Resumption in hand by the investment fund, the example of AC Milan
Ares Management therefore has the power to regain the head of the club, at least in a transitory way before the club’s passage before the DNCG call. This is one of the possible solutions for Olympique Lyonnais to reassure members of the financial gendarme in French football. This track, which has been taking thickness for a few hours, is not new. A few years ago, the Italian AC Milan club experienced difficulties with one of the investment funds and its Chinese investor. The latter, Li Yonghong, who had taken over the club in 2017, had been unable to honor debts. The American Fund Elliott had therefore whistled the end of recess and resumed the management of the Serie A club.
This is generally what can happen on the side of Olympique Lyonnais. In this case, if the relationship with Ares is not always in good shape, this influential shareholder could also ask for the departure of John Textor to regain the total control of the club. The rest will also depend on the expectations of the DNCG decision. In this case, the American also plays his credibility and his future. And for its part, the ARES Fund does not want to lose the $ 400 million in investment in the Ligue 1 team at all.
Spread textor or bail out the boxes, the dilemma of ares management
In recent days, John Textor has thought of having done the essentials by working on numerous files, including the transfer window and the contribution of liquidity by the shareholders. But to date, for example, the sale of Crystal Palace is still under study by members of the Premier League. The money taken from this sale by John Textor is therefore not concrete. Surely one of the reproaches that the DNCG will formulate in its official notification transmitted in the coming hours. In any case, one of the main questions remains what Ares can do as a result of this demotion. Gain textor? Or simply support John Textor by bailing out the OL boxes? The future will say.
