Bernard Arnault’s family is nearing the purchase of a majority stake in second-tier football club Paris FC, investing alongside Red Bull, as the billionaire clan diversifies into sports, people familiar with the matter said.
Under the terms discussed, the Arnault family will initially take a stake of about 55 percent through its holding company Agache, before buying out club chairman Pierre Ferracci’s 30 percent holding in 2027, said the people, requesting anonymity. Red Bull will acquire a stake of about 15 percent, they added.
Paris FC, founded in 1972, is currently the leader of France’s Ligue 2, one step below the top league. The club is less known than Paris Saint-Germain, the French capital’s main football team, whose international profile soared under the ownership of Qatar and with star players like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The move to invest was a family decision involving Bernard Arnault and his five children, who all work at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the luxury group he controls, a person familiar with the transaction’s rationale said.
French sports newspaper L’Equipe first reported the news on Wednesday. A representative for the Arnault family declined to comment.
Paris FC is known to have a large training academy which scouts for emerging football talent in the wider Paris region.
The future owners are not looking to challenge PSG immediately, but plan to have the team qualify for the top French league and eventually seek to take part in the European Champions League, according to L’Equipe. The club will benefit from a budget in a range between €100 million ($109 million) and €200 million over several years, the paper reported.
A spokesman for Red Bull declined to comment. A representative for Ferracci didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news comes amid a recent foray by LVMH into sports sponsorships. Last week, the group signed a 10-year deal with Formula 1 worth potentially $1 billion, replacing Rolex SA. LVMH was also a major sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Paris over the summer.
Several French football clubs big and small have attracted takeover interest from investors in the past few years. Another Ligue 2 team located north of Paris, Red Star FC, is in talks to be acquired by private equity investor Steve Pagliuca, Bloomberg has reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Red Bull announced former Liverpool FC manager Juergen Klopp will become its global head of football in January. Red Bull owns a number of teams, including Leipzig, Salzburg and the New York Red Bulls. It also has a stake in English Championship team Leeds United.
With this transaction, Arnault would join another prominent luxury family, the Pinaults, who own the football club Stade Rennais FC via their Artemis family vehicle. The Pinaults are the controlling shareholders of Gucci parent company Kering SA.
By Benoit Berthelot and Angelina Rascouet
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