A palace revolution that goes badly. The current concessionaire of the Stade de France, the Vinci-Bouygues consortium, will challenge in court the procedure for renewing the concession managed by the State.
After several months of discussions and hearings, with the services of Bercy in particular, the State, owner of the Stadium, chose the Lyon events group GL Events last week, rejecting the offer from Vinci-Bouygues . The final award should take place at the end of January.
“The consortium will take legal action”, in particular for unfair treatment between the candidates, a source close to the matter told AFP, without specifying either the timetable or the avenue of appeal. As the procedure relates to public procurement, the body seized will probably be the administrative court.
“They are furious at Vinci and Bouygues,” a source close to the negotiations had already told the press agency last week. The consortium is two-thirds owned by Vinci and one-third by Bouygues.
“The decision was taken in the midst of the motion of censure” against the government, noted a source close to the matter last week, considering that it was “a political decision” and highlighting “a proximity” of the GL Events group with Emmanuel Macron.
In 1995, the concession was granted for 30 years to the current consortium, hastily between the two rounds of the presidential election. The call for tenders for the renewal of the concession was launched in March 2023. A procedure for sale was launched at the same time but it was abandoned due to a lack of candidates.
Negotiations must now also be held with the football and rugby federations which had presented their specifications to the two candidates – on less costly conditions than currently – but had not reached an agreement with either of them.
The specifications require that the stadium can accommodate the French football and rugby teams, who play some nine matches there per year, as well as “major international sporting events”. The new concession contract, granted for 30 years, must be signed in April 2025. The current concession ends at the beginning of August 2025.
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