Botafogo SAF owner Textor granted one-year reprieve on Lyon purchase debt | OneFootball

The American investment fund Ares has committed, over the next 12 months, not to demand payment of the debt incurred in the acquisition of Lyon by the Eagle group, owned by John Textor, a debt facing financial difficulties, according to the holding company’s accounts verified by AFP.

This written commitment is dated September 29, according to the document from Eagle, Textor’s holding company, which also owns the SAF of Botafogo.

These accounts, presented in early October with several months’ delay, cover the 2022/2023 fiscal year, a period in which Eagle still held shares in the English club Crystal Palace.

They reveal a critical financial situation, with a loss of US$217 million (R$1.1 billion at the current rate), as well as a debt of more than US$450 million (R$2.4 billion) to be repaid to Ares by 2028, with interest rates ranging from 16% to 22%.

However, the exact amount still owed by Eagle is not known, since the group sold its stake in Crystal Palace in July of this year — for 190 million pounds sterling (R$1.3 billion), according to the BBC — which, according to the holding company, “significantly reduced its debt” to creditors.

By failing to publish its accounts on time, Eagle has regularly violated its obligations to Ares, which gives the American fund the legal right to demand immediate repayment of the debt — that is, specifically to take control of the clubs used as collateral for the loan.

“We are pleased with the support of our main creditor,” Textor told AFP. Ares “simply provided the minimum guarantee necessary to make the auditor comfortable in transferring the audits,” he added.

Contacted by AFP, Ares declined to comment on the case.

John Textor has been heavily criticized in France for his financial management of Lyon, a club from which he was forced to resign the presidency and which narrowly escaped administrative relegation to the second division.

The executive has also begun to be questioned at Botafogo, given concerns regarding his multi-club financial arrangements.

In addition, Textor has been weakened by a legal dispute in the British courts with the American fund Iconic, which invested alongside him to buy Lyon and is now demanding US$94 million (R$511 million).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.