This Thursday, the ex-basketball player contested before the Grenoble administrative court the eviction of his company Infinity Nine Mountain (INM) from the market for the management of the ski area of Les Gets, in the Alps, by decision of this Haute commune. -Savoy.
The candidacy put forward by the former star of the French basketball team who had converted to business was in competition with that of Sagets, the historic operator of the ski lifts and of which the commune of Les Gets is the majority shareholder.
In addition to the ski area, Sagets manages a golf course and its restaurant, tennis courts, an ice rink, a leisure area and even the pony club of this resort located between Geneva and Annecy, between 1172 and 2002 meters above sea level.
The four-time NBA champion and his group, which describes itself as focused on “
sport, education and the art of living
”, have already bought the Villard-de-Lans and Corrençon ski lift company (SELV) in 2019, a another mid-mountain family resort in the Alps.
The group wants to develop a huge hotel complex program there for an investment estimated at 96 million euros, much criticized by local residents.
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Misuse of procedure
For Les Gets, the new public service delegation (DSP) procedure, launched in May 2023, was finally canceled by the municipality which declared it “
without further action
” in a municipal deliberation, while the offers had already been analyzed .
The municipal council authorized the mayor nine days later to negotiate the future management of this DSP with neighboring municipalities, with a procedure not requiring competitive bidding.
The mayor had highlighted the need for the municipality to “
redefine its needs
” and “
opt for a return to service management
” with a shared system due to “
the very strong uncertainties weighing on tourist activities
”.
“
We are convinced that we are facing a misuse of procedure, the only purpose of which would be to oust the candidacy of INM in the context of the management of the ski lifts
,” asserted Marie Jamet, the lawyer of Tony Parker's company, requesting the emergency suspension of the municipal decision.
The administrative court must rule “
as quickly as possible
” on the summary judgment.
Tony Parker's counsel, Didier Domat, told AFP that he retained the right to launch criminal proceedings.
Tony Parker's group includes two basketball teams - ASVEL Villeurbanne and Lyon Asvel feminine -, a training center focused on sports, a stud farm in Normandy, a racing horse stable, a media agency dedicated to entertainment and in production and a wine estate in Côtes-Du-Rhône.