Bill Foley set to become sole owner of FC Lorient in major structural shift | OneFootball

FC Lorient president Loïc Féry has confirmed that he intends to integrate his personal stake in the club into the Black Knight Football Club (BKFC) group, a move that would make the American consortium the sole shareholder of the Merlus. The 51-year-old revealed the plan in an interview published on the club’s official website on Sunday.

Féry explained that the decision caps a process that began in late 2022, when Bill Foley and BKFC first entered Lorient’s capital as minority shareholders. Since then, the club has experienced both a top-ten Ligue 1 finish and an immediate promotion from Ligue 2 following relegation.

“This evolution would give Lorient strong foundations within a group with over $500m in equity,” Féry argues. By absorbing his stake into BKFC, he would become one of the group’s leading shareholders behind Foley and his investment vehicles, while Lorient would structurally join a multi-club network alongside AFC Bournemouth and Moreirense FC.

Féry frames the move as a response to an increasingly ‘hyper-competitive’ Ligue 1 landscape, shaped by declining domestic TV rights and the growing spending power of rival clubs. These conditions significantly restricted Lorient’s transfer activity last summer. “This evolution seems to me to be a guarantee of the club’s sustainability… and allows me to continue what has driven me since 2009,” said Féry on Lorient’s website.

The announcement, however, arrives barely three years after Féry assured supporters that no further change in the club’s capital structure would occur before the centenary year of 2026. At the time, he emphasised his determination to remain majority owner at least until the club’s 100th anniversary – a stance now superseded.

Despite this, Féry maintains confidence in the plan’s reception and feasibility. “All parties are aligned… we have known each other well for years, and I am convinced we will finalise this evolution in the shortest time.”Les Merlus currently sit 17th in Ligue 1 after earning promotion back to the French top tier last season as champions of Ligue 2. Whilst Lorient are winless in their last five games, the side managed by Olivier Pantaloni have done enough so far to be level with Nantes and Brest on 10 points as the scrap to avoid relegation looks tighter than ever this season. GFFN | George Boxall