OL Groupe has announced that it has granted a "final deadline", until Wednesday, December 7, for the sale of French club Lyon to American billionaire John Textor, via its holding company Eagle Football.
"In view of the progress made in the last 48 hours, the sellers and OL Groupe have agreed to grant Eagle a final deadline of December 7, 2022 to find a final agreement," said the holding company that owns the Lyon club.
It is therefore a new postponement for the finalization of this operation estimated at 800 million euros.
On Sunday evening December 4, the sellers -Pathé, IDG Capital and Holnest- and OL Groupe met to assess the progress made in the "remaining stages" to finalize the operation.
A crucial green light is indeed missing from Eagle Football to trigger the signing: the agreement of the Premier League to the assembly planned for this transfer considered as a historic turning point for the French club chaired since 1987 by Jean-Michel Aulas.
The agreements between Eagle Football and its funding sources provide in particular “as a precondition” for the contribution in kind of the shares held by John Textor in the English club Crystal Palace.
Friday, OL Groupe explained that the latter had not yet given its approval, preventing the Premier League from deciding.
“Eagle Football today (Monday) advised the vendors that progress has been made in obtaining the agreement of all parties, including the Premier League, to proceed with the transactions and their financing, but that additional time was needed,” OLG said in its statement.
However, the group warns that "after this last deadline, the sellers and OL Groupe can only note that it has become unproductive to give Eagle Football additional time"
