Lasting several months, the saga of disputes between the former owner of Standard, Bruno Venanzi, and the American shareholders of A-CAP (who took over from 777 Partners) officially ended several days ago. As we explained on September 20, a global agreement had been reached between the different parties to resolve a problem made insoluble by 777 Partners. On the one hand, Bruno Venanzi rightly demanded payment of the second tranche of the buyout as well as the repayment of a €3M loan granted to the club just after the sale. Also, the former boss of Rouches, accompanied by other members of the Immobilière, wanted to receive payment of the second tranche of the buyout of this Immobilière. The American owners of the Standard, for their part, demanded a sum of €4.8 million from their predecessor for a series of files which, according to them, were attributable to him.
The agreement was for an amount exceeding 10 million euros and also included payments for the third tranche of the club’s takeover as well as the takeover of Real Estate. The consequence of this agreement was obviously the lifting of the seizure of Standard’s shares allowing, from a legal point of view, its sale. As indicated in our columns, Number 16 carried out a capital increase of 25 million euros (this is the conversion of money injections from Americans since the start of the calendar year into capital) in front of notary on October 3. Information that the club confirmed this Tuesday in a press release. “Standard de Liège is today able to confirm that an agreement has been concluded between the current shareholder and the former shareholders both at the level of SA Standard de Liège and Immobilière du Standard de Liège. These agreements allow the immediate lifting of the seizures made on the shares of these two companies and the realization of a capital increase of 25 million euros at club level. This capital increase ensures the club’s compliance with the rules of the License Commission. These are important new steps in the club’s sales process. »
Two other disputes were still pending. The first pitted Standard against its former CEO, Alexandre Grosjean, who demanded payment of his notice. The second concerned the Assar architectural firm, commissioned by Bruno Venanzi to produce the plans for the new stadium, and the club for an amount of €3M claimed by the architectural firm. For this dispute, the plaintiffs obtained from the courts a seizure of the stadium and real estate which was contested by the club on Monday. But as we wrote on October 1, the overall agreement reached by Bruno Venanzi and A-CAP includes the finality of these last two disputes once the verdicts are rendered.
