A woman has become the great tycoon of women's football on Tuesday. A year after buying the Washington Spirit, current leader of the American league, for 35 million dollars (about 32 million euros at the current exchange rate), businesswoman Michele Kang has closed an agreement to take control of the best women's team in history: Olympique de Lyon. The operation will be done through an exchange of shares and the creation of a new entity.
That the operation was close was an open secret. Kang was last week collecting a trophy from the French team. This Tuesday it has become official. In a three-way agreement, OL Groupe (owner of Olympique Lyon), Eagle Football Holdings (majority shareholder of OL Groupe) and Michele Kang (owner of Washington Spirit) have announced the signing of an agreement to create the first multi-team women's football organization of its kind.
"The combination represents hope, determination and the entrepreneurial steps needed to shape the future of women's football," Michele Kang, a 63-year-old South Korean-born entrepreneur who has made her fortune with a healthcare technology company, said in a statement.
pic.twitter.com/Y19NkRvQb1
— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) May 16, 2023
Kang will become the majority shareholder, with 52%, and CEO of the newly created company, making it the first women-led and women-owned multi-club football organization, the clubs said in separate statements. In February 2023, Kang already became a minority shareholder of Eagle Football Holdings, which in addition to Olympique Lyon, owns stakes in football teams around the world, such as England's Crystal Palace, Belgium's RWD Molenbeek and Brazil's Botafogo.
OL Groupe will continue to support the new entity by providing services, including the use of Groupama Stadium, Groupama OL Training Center and OL Academy. This new global platform will seek to acquire additional clubs in other countries in Europe, America and Asia, the clubs have announced. The women's teams of the clubs in the orbit of Eagle Football Holdings seem the first candidates to join.
While each club will retain its own identity and tradition, the group will invest centrally in developing capabilities that will be shared across teams, such as performance science and technology, data analytics, global scouting and sports staff development.
"The formation of this new group is a clear sign that investment and resources in women's football are taking a big step towards equality with men's teams," the affected clubs said. "With the necessary support, young women and women around the world will be inspired to pursue their dreams and embrace a career in football at a scale and level of professional success that should not be reserved solely for their male peers."
OL Groupe et Michele Kang forment un groupe mondial de football féminin.
🗞️👉 https://t.co/epACRR67Z0 pic.twitter.com/X9TbVQgD38
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) May 16, 2023
The transaction is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions, such as approval by the American professional women's soccer league, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and various third-party approvals in France. The closure should occur at the end of June 2023. As OL Groupe owns Seattle's OL Reign, which competes in the NWSL (it was champion in 2022 and is now second, behind the Washington Spirit), it has initiated a formal sale process of the club to avoid a conflict of interest within the league.
"This agreement represents a major step forward in the history of women's professional football," Michele Kang said in a statement. "It brings together the unparalleled tradition of eight-time Champions League winner OL Féminin and the dynamism of the 2021 NWSL Champion Spirit to take our sport into a new era."
"Over the past 20 years, OL Groupe has played an important role in the growth of women's football. Today, the popularity of the sport is exploding in Europe, the United States and around the world," said John Textor, Chairman of OL Groupe. "With a winning tradition that is unparalleled in the world of women's football, OL Féminin has a unique opportunity in this growing market to build the global Olympique de Lyon brand for the benefit of OL Groupe and our extraordinary athletes."
The operation has been designed through an exchange of shares. OL Groupe will contribute its women's team, and Kang, through his firm YMK Holdings, will contribute the majority stake of the Washington Spirit to create a new independent entity. At the OL group level, the transaction will result in the contribution by OL Association (an independent association governed by the French law of 1901, consolidated by OL Groupe) of its women's football business in exchange for a 12% stake in the new joint entity (non-voting).
OL Groupe will also have, through OL SASU, a 36% stake (non-voting rights) in the new joint entity in exchange for the contribution of a 50-year license on the OL brand. OL Groupe will be represented on the governing bodies of the new structure and will benefit from certain liquidity rights linked to the liquidity of the majority shareholder.
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