Midnight had long struck when Pierre Ferracci picked up his phone on October 10. At the end of the line, a friendly voice, but less friendly than usual. “Why didn’t you tell me?” » Emmanuel Macron has just learned that his interlocutor – the father of one of his best friends, Marc Ferracci, recently appointed Minister Delegate for Industry – is in very advanced talks to sell his football club. He is preparing to sell Paris FC (PFC) to a tandem of shareholders made up of the Arnault family, owner of the luxury giant LVMH, and the Austrian group Red Bull. On the phone, Pierre Ferracci managed to convince his interlocutor that the success of the sale project required absolute confidentiality. “I did not dare tell the President of the Republic that if we informed him, all of Paris would know”confides today the president of the club from the south of the capital.
For weeks, since the end of April, visits have multiplied to the PFC headquarters. Auditors examined the account books, business lawyers were taken into confidence, representatives of the Red Bull group, including former German international Mario Gomez, technical football director of the firm, came to observe the methods of operation at the Plaine d’Orly training center (Val-de-Marne). Miracle, nothing transpired… until the beginning of October, when The Team revealed the first details of the operation. The Arnaults, through the Agache family holding company, will initially acquire 55% of the shares. The Red Bull group, which owns several football teams around the world and provides its sporting expertise, will invest 15%. Pierre Ferracci retains 30% of the capital, which he should sell in 2027, as does the presidency of the club, which will then fall to Antoine Arnault, eldest son of patriarch Bernard Arnault. The two men should clarify their respective motivations during a press conference on Wednesday, November 20.
For Pierre Ferracci, this planned sale “for a long time” comes as a relief – it is also the promise of a great financial transaction, even if no figures have been circulated. The Corsican businessman, president of the Alpha audit and consulting group, has been at the head of Paris FC since 2012. Founded in 1969, the club developed in the shadow of its bulky neighbor, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). There is a territorial rivalry between their youth sections, just like their women’s teams, but among the men, there is no match. Mr. Ferracci’s club stagnated in lower divisions until reaching Ligue 2, the second tier of French professional football, in 2015.
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