Europe’s richest family to complete football club takeover ‘in coming days’

Head of LVMH luxury conglomerate Bernard Arnault (left) and his wife Helene Mercier-Arnault arrive at the Elysee presidential palace for an official state dinner earlier this month. Photo / Ludovic Marin, AFP

The family of France’s richest person, Bernard Arnault, will purchase a controlling stake in Paris FC “in the coming days”, the Ligue 2 club’s president said during a press conference on Wednesday.

The Arnault family, via its Agache holding company, is set to become the majority shareholder of Paris FC, with energy drinks giant Red Bull also acquiring a minority stake.

Paris FC president Pierre Ferracci said a general assembly will be held on November 29, when a new board of directors will be approved.

Antoine Arnault, whose father Bernard is chief executive of the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, said the club “will belong to my family”, adding it “will not be a shared property of the Arnault family and Red Bull”.

He said Paris FC will not come under Red Bull’s multi-club ownership model, which includes German team RB Leipzig and Austria’s Salzburg.

Following next week’s assembly, the Arnault family will own 52% of the club and Red Bull 11%.

The rest will be split between different minority shareholders, including mobile phone operator Lycamobile and Ferracci’s Alter Paris company, which will maintain a 30% stake.

In 2027, Ferracci, who has been at the helm of the club since 2012, will leave and the Arnault family’s share will increase to around 80%. Red Bull’s will grow to 15%.

No figures have yet been released about the size of the pending acquisition or the projected investment.

However, Antoine Arnault shared the new owner’s primary ambition will be overseeing Paris FC’s promotion to France’s Ligue 1 from the second division, of which they are currently the leaders.

Promotion would mean that for the first time in over 30 years there would be two clubs from the French capital in the top flight, with Paris FC joining powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain.

In order to compete with France’s – and eventually Europe’s – top teams, the Arnault family will make a “substantial” investment but also rely upon the footballing expertise of Red Bull, with Antoine Arnault saying he’d already had conversations with the Austrian company’s new head of football, Jurgen Klopp.

But the 47-year-old insisted there would be no shortcuts to success or immediate rivalry with Qatar-owned PSG, and that his family were in it for the long term, promising a commitment over a period of “at least 10, 15 or 20 years”.

“We’re not here to change everything, or to flip the table,” he said.

“That’s very important, because in football, there are no magic solutions.”

Bernard Arnault, one of the world’s richest people, has also moved to build the empire in directions other than luxury, notably taking control of the Paris Match weekly magazine.

LVMH’s high-profile and highly visible product placement in the Paris Olympic Games, designing medals, ceremonial uniforms and presentation trays, raised eyebrows and created some tensions with the Games’ long-term sponsors.