Overview
- The club announced an agreement on Wednesday to transfer ownership to Park Bench for a symbolic €1, with the fund taking on the club’s outstanding liabilities.
- French press reports say the deal renegotiates the club’s obligations from about €26 million over 10 years to roughly €13 million over 12 years, a change that reduces near-term cash demands on the buyer.
- Outgoing owner Gérard López, who led Bordeaux since 2021, reportedly offered to keep a minority stake (first 15%, then 10%) but those proposals were rejected by the new buyers.
- The transaction is not final and must be reviewed by the Commission Régionale de Contrôle de Gestion (Ligue de Nouvelle-Aquitaine), which will assess Park Bench’s finances and the takeover plan in hearings scheduled in the coming days.
- Bordeaux has lost professional status and dropped to the sixth tier after DNCG and federation sanctions, and the sale could stabilize the club’s finances and allow a court to ratify a continuity plan needed for the team’s return to national competition.