Taken over in 2020 by the Italian businessman, Alessandro Barnaba, via the investment fund Melvin Partners, LOSC is today a financially healthier club than it was under the previous governance of Gérard Lopez. And he remains competitive, notably qualifying this season for the Champions League. For its owner, the time has perhaps come to sell his assets, as he confided in the columns of the Gazzetta dello Sport.
The LOSC shareholder opens the door to a sale of the club
“There is always a good time to buy and a good time to sell. Generally, we invest for 3 to 5 years. After having cleaned up the accounts and consolidated the sports project, we are in a good period to sell, but we are in no hurry”details Alessandro Barnaba in the columns of the sports media. “ If an interesting offer arises, we will consider it, otherwise we will continue. Moreover, beyond the opportunities offered by the Football network and personal satisfaction, the value of our brand also increases. »
The burning question is necessarily that of the valuation of the northern club. Only the shareholders can decide, but an estimate is possible by taking into account the accounting elements of the club, the sporting valuation of its workforce, or even real estate.
Return to profits and debts erased by the current management
Economically speaking, first of all, Alessandro Barnaba underlines, the club's accounts have been “cleaned up”. Under the leadership of Olivier Létang, operational president since the takeover of the club, it returned to profit after experiencing a record deficit in 2019, at 66.6 million euros net. During the 2020-2023 period which is that of Melvin Partners, LOSC is a net beneficiary of more than 50 million euros.
Recently, Olivier Létang was pleased to have, with his teams, paid off all of LOSC's debts under his presidency, in four years. They were more than 270 million euros when he arrived at the head of the Mastiffs. As for turnover excluding trading, it now stands at 100 million euros, more or less depending on the team's presence in European cups.
Gérard Lopez made trading a specialty; after him, Létang effectively maintained the legacy. Valued by Transfermarkt, it is worth 263.7 million euros, it is the fourth most expensive in French football after PSG (€892.5 million), AS Monaco (€358.2 million) and Olympique de Marseille (€305.3 million).
More or less €300 million the estimated valuation of LOSC
In terms of real estate properties, LOSC does not have its stadium, the Decathlon Aréna Stade Pierre Mauroy, which has the advantage of being the third largest in Ligue 1 in terms of surface area at 49,082 commercial spaces. On the other hand, he has the 43-hectare Luchin estate for him, where he sits and where the players have their quarters, in training or in training. Taking all this data into account, as a downside to the sale the current fragility of French football particularly weakened by TV rights and the deal signed with the CVC fund, plus the analysis made by Football Benchmark regarding the valuation of the club, we can estimate the LOSC at more or less 300 million euros. Alessandro Barnaba for his part did not comment on this specific subject.
