As of: January 25, 2024, 8:32 a.m
By: Björn Knips
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Frank Baumann (from left) is one of the investors who joined Werder Bremen.
Kurt Zech and Harm Ohlmeyer are apparently also on the team.
© gumzmedia
The time has come: SV Werder Bremen has found an investor, several in fact - including Frank Baumann.
How much money is involved, how many shares will be sold and who else will join SVW.
Bremen - It's still top secret, but there should soon be clarity: According to information from
DeichStube,
SV Werder Bremen
has found an
investor
after a long search
- actually there are several.
Some entrepreneurs and private individuals from the region have come together to jointly acquire shares in the spun-off corporation (KG).
It's a sum of almost
40 million euros
, which would give the financially badly hit club more room for maneuver.
For this purpose, the association, as the sole shareholder of the KG, will probably give up around 20 percent of the shares in the KG.
Those responsible have succeeded in creating a construct that could also placate critics - especially from the organized fan scene.
The group of very Werder-affinous investors is said to include a certain
Frank Baumann
, who once won the double with the Green-Whites and is still employed as managing director until the summer.
According to reports, the team also includes
Harm Ohlmeyer
and
Kurt Zech
– a current and a former member of the supervisory board.
There should be clear rules to ensure that the shares cannot end up in the wrong hands through resale.
Werder Bremen finds an investor: 20 percent of the KG shares are sold for 40 million euros
Of course, the club does not part with any of its silverware entirely voluntarily.
The liabilities of around 37 million euros accumulated during the Corona period and due to the relegation ensure that
Werder Bremen
's options are severely limited and many things are on edge.
Recently there was even a million-dollar fine from the German Football League (DFL) because the negative equity (around 19 million euros) had not been sufficiently improved.
In order to free yourself from this grip and regain your legroom, you need to get
some fresh money
.
Two years ago, the executive board and supervisory board gave the management a clear mandate to intensify the search for an
investor
.
There were always people interested in joining Werder.
But the Green-Whites were very selective - with good reason: They didn't want to sell themselves to a sheikh, an oligarch or any fund.
The money should be clean and the investor should not want to influence the business.
That's why it was preferred to talk about a
strategic partner
who not only gives money, but also provides added value for the club through cooperation and also represents the values of SV Werder.
Investors for SV Werder Bremen: Regional entrepreneurs are getting involved - including Frank Baumann with an investment
A year ago there was intensive discussion about selling up to 30 percent of the shares in KG for up to 70 million euros in order to go public on the US stock exchange Nasdaq.
However, the association's executive board ultimately voted against it because it found this route too risky.
The solution with regional entrepreneurs came up again and again - as a big wish, so to speak, but it never came true.
Until now!
Now several entrepreneurs have found themselves who
primarily want to help
Werder Bremen .
Most of them would have preferred to remain anonymous because they don't want to flaunt their wealth - in keeping with the rather reserved nature of Bremen merchants.
But especially in this case, transparency is very important at Werder, especially the ultra scene, but other fans are also
very critical of the
entry of an investor .
It would not have been possible to conceal who was behind the
donors
.
That's why all names should ultimately be mentioned so that their integrity can be verified by everyone.
There can hardly be two opinions when it comes to
Frank Baumann
, the ex-professional has lived in Werder for almost 25 years and demonstrates with his personal
investment
that he believes in the club's successful future - even without being involved in operational business.
For him and his colleagues, it is more of an opportunity close to his heart, so that the traditional club can stay in the Bundesliga permanently after the corona pandemic and relegation and play a better role there again.
(kneel)