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According to Gérard López, Girondins will close the year with an operating deficit of 40 million euros, not counting player sales. That is ten million euros more than what was announced at the beginning of April in the Board of Directors. It could have been much worse without a big exemption from employer charges…
According to Gérard López, Girondins will close the year with an operating deficit of 40 million euros, not counting player sales. That is ten million euros more than what he announced at the beginning of April in the Board of Directors. It could have been much worse without a large exemption from employer fees provided by the State due to Covid (as for all professional clubs) and which amounts to several million euros.
40 million check
The debt, for its part, amounts to 50 million euros, owed to two investment funds (38 in Fortress, 12 in King Street) in addition to the 14.4 million euros owed to Metropolis for the distribution of the rent of the Matmut Atlantique . In both cases, the deadline is set at 2025, so it is secondary short-term data. However, the 10 to 15 million euros claimed by former coach Vladimir Petkovic, fired in February, can count.
In order to obtain the green light from the DNCG, it is necessary both to have financed the closed exercise and to present cash guarantees to cover the coming one. During the hearing set for June 14, the president and owner Gérard López must therefore attend “with a check for at least 40 million euros”, according to a regular from the LFP, to zero out the assets and comply the first requirement. .
no more debt
Where can this amount come from? First of all, Gérard Lopez himself, as the majority shareholder. But it’s not in his habits. He put “only” ten million on the table to buy Girondins last year and has already explained that he ruled out investing his personal fortune to the point of putting himself in danger. Even so, Fortress and King Street recently asked him, as we revealed, to find 20 million euros.
The rest will be financed with money from the CVC (8.25 million euros planned on June 30), the LFP parachute for relegated clubs (7 million) and the sale of players. All this will be broken down between the past year and the coming one. Bordeaux will not be able to count on additional debt, because the collateral assets (the players) are too weak and the two current creditors will never authorize the arrival of a third party with the same payment priority as them. As for the future income linked to the sales of Tchouaméni and Koundé (20% of the capital gain), they will be donated directly to King Street and Fortress.
The idea is therefore to find a partner capable of mobilizing several million euros. However, it will not be easy to convince an individual or a company to write such a large check in Ligue 2, knowing that Winamax paid 1.3 million a year to be the main shirt sponsor in L1. This member would have to return to the club’s capital for his contribution to grow, but the terms are especially short and the club generates very little cash, which limits its attractiveness.
A very tight schedule
The second need, in front of the DNCG, is to present a provisional budget for the next season and show that the box will be enough. In Ligue 1, Bordeaux projected between 20 and 30 million deficit. And in Ligue 2? For now, the information has not leaked. Income (TV rights, associations, ticket sales, etc.) will inevitably decrease, but so will expenses, particularly payroll with the departure of many players.
At the end of the hearing on June 14, if the DNCG does not have sufficient financial guarantees against it, it can administratively downgrade Girondins to National. The club will then have six days to appeal. Between ten and fifteen days will pass before a second hearing, this time before the federal DNCG, where it must be in order. That would take Bordeaux in late June or early July, well after training resumes, as the L2 season kicks off on the last weekend of the month. His preparation would inevitably suffer, for the third year in a row.
crest line
The other way, more radical, would be for King Street and Fortress to use their preferred stock to carry out a forced sale of the shares of Gérard López and replace him with a new owner. Fortress surveyed potential buyers during the season, with no return given the club’s financial state and the asking price for debt recovery. Therefore, the two funds have decided to continue as is.
If López cannot cope and the creditors do not return to the cauldron, the club will inevitably go to bankruptcy before the Mercantile and Bankruptcy Court. The continuation would be written in National in case of recovery or at amateur level in case of liquidation. It is not the trend. But it illustrates the ridge line on which Bordeaux rides, towards a scorching end of spring.