Juba Touabi, Media365, published on Friday November 22, 2024 at 1:45 p.m.
In a recent press release, the owner of the Lyon team announced the launch of a financing round, before an IPO.
The Eagle Football Holdings group, led by John Textor, is going through a critical period. Owner of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) as well as clubs like Botafogo (Brazil) and RWD Molenbeek (Belgium), the group is faced with massive debt, significant losses, and questions about its financial management. Eagle has launched a $100 million fundraising effort to stabilize its activities and prepare for an IPO planned for the first quarter of 2025.
Textor wants to succeed in its IPO
Already, an initial investment of $40 million has been injected by UCEA Capital Partners, an investment company. “This financing brings us one step closer to our IPO ambitions,” said John Textor. However, these ambitions must contend with Olympique Lyonnais' staggering debt of 505 million euros, plunging the club into a critical situation. The DNCG, guardian of the financial balance of French clubs, has demoted OL as a precautionary measure to Ligue 2, combining this sanction with a ban on recruitment and strict control of the payroll. Despite the recovery plans presented by Textor, the authorities were not convinced, forcing the club to consider massive sales of players to balance its books.
Among the departing players: Rayan Cherki, valued at between 20 and 30 million euros, followed by PSG and Liverpool. Malick Fofana, young Belgian talent on the rise. Maxence Caqueret, targeted by Leverkusen, with an estimated value between 15 and 20 million euros. Other departures, such as that of goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, are also being considered to reduce the payroll. The Eagle Football model is based on the interdependence of its clubs, but this strategy of “communicating vessels” has raised criticism. Internal transfers, like that of Nuamah, acquired by RWD Molenbeek for 30 million euros before being loaned to Lyon, or the arrival of players from Botafogo in conditions deemed opaque, fuel suspicion. This opacity reinforces doubts about the viability of the project and the transparency of financial transactions within the group. Despite an ambitious IPO project estimated at $1.1 billion, the survival of Eagle Football Holdings remains in doubt.
