A “Swiss” fund fails in the Munich 1860 acquisition

Matthias Thoma will not buy Munich 1860.image: getty/EBP

The sale had been announced and the supporters rejoiced. However, the investor of Munich 1860 finally turned around: he will not give in any of his shares to the “Swiss family holding” which benefited from his favors.

Niklas Helbling

The joy was immense when Munich 1860 announced, on July 5, that his unpopular investor, Hasan Ismaik, was going to give in his shares, after having concluded an agreement with a “Swiss family holding company”. Following this announcement, the supporters gathered in front of the club’s headquarters to celebrate their imminent departure.

Unsurprisingly, the disappointment was immense when, in July, Ismaik announced on social networks: “I remain”. The owner of the famous German club recalled that he had always insisted to give in to reliable and responsible hands. “My withdrawal would not be beneficial for the TSV 1860,” he added, after having stopped the committed sales process.

Initially, Ismaik had not confirmed the identity of the Pretchedi buyer. Several names have therefore circulated, including the Emil Frey group, the Franco-Swiss Kyril Louis-Dreyfus or the Liebherr group. However, it would actually be Matthias Thoma, as the owner of Munich 1860 revealed it in an Instagram post.

A buyer at dubious profile

But Thoma is not Swiss. He is a German national, simply domiciled in part in Switzerland. Aged 57, he had bought in 2020 the French ready-to-wear Paule Ka brand, before it was quickly liquidated. This bankruptcy had notably led to the disappearance of a Swiss female cycling team, following the non-payment of sponsorship promises. The Swiss Marlen Reusser, then a member of this training, had been forced to shorten her season.

According to the Munich daily Evening newspaperseveral “very concern” elements concerning Thoma, in particular a conviction pronounced by criminal order in 2021, emerged during the procedure. Faced with this controversial profile and several warnings, the site of supporters sechzger.de wondered:

In reality, it was only in an advanced stage of negotiations that ISMAIK would have realized that a sale in Thoma was probably not a good idea. The transaction, first estimated at 25 million euros by the German press and then to 60 million according to theEvening newspapertherefore failedalso because money would not have been paid on time.

Hasan Ismaik is not unanimous in Bavaria.Image: www.imago-images.de

The fact that the sale was made public before being finalized was not planned by Hasan Ismaik. He rejects responsibility for the former club’s board, which he accuses of having imposed this communication, without his agreement, on the eve of the General Assembly during which a new management was to be elected.

“Robert Reisinger and Karl-Christian Bay (Red: the former president and his vice-president respectively) have deceived you. Their objective was to instrumentalize my alleged departure to present themselves as the saviors ”ISMAIK told supporters. Cited in the announcement of the sale, the outgoing management was criticized by the new president, Gernot Mang, who judged this publication “far too premature and inappropriate”.

The sale remains on the table

Despite the failure of the operation, Ismaik wishes to quickly meet Gernot Mang, the board of directors and perhaps even the members of the club, “in order to find a viable consensus for all the parties”.

The new president of Munich 1860: Gernot Mang.Image: www.imago-images.de

Among the most urgent subjects is the future of the Grünwalder stadium, which Munich 1860 reinvested in 2017 after leaving the Allianz Arena where Bayern plays. This historic speaker requires significant renovations, otherwise a partial closure could be inevitable.

In addition, Ismaik reaffirmed her desire to sell: “If that’s the best for 1860 … I am always open to discussion”.

While confusion reigns once again behind the scenes of the club and around the Jordanian investor, supporters feed a new hope in terms of sport. Thanks to the arrivals of two former Bundesliga players, Kevin Volland and Florian Niederlechner, the 1966 German champion already dreams of a return to the Bundesliga 2, eight years after his relegation.

A runner helped his team’s car several times to stay in contact with the leading group on Thursday during the 18th stage.

It is a common practice in cycling. She even has a name: “glued can”. It consists in being tract effortlessly and over several meters by a car from its team on the pretext of recovering a can (gourd) during the race.