Ligue 1 Club Angers Set to Be Sold for $84M

As owner of Ligue 1 club Angers, Saïd Chabane could acquire players and then transfer them at a much higher price. Now he’s doing that with the entire club.

Chabane is reportedly set to sell the team for $84 million. He initially bought the team in 2011 for $1.8 million.

• The buyer is believed to be an American investment fund.
• One source told Forbes that Germania Financial Services will purchase the club, but the report has not been substantiated.

When Chabane purchased the club, it was in France’s second-division Ligue 2. It was promoted in 2015 and has remained in Ligue 1 since. 

Angers was losing around $1 million on $11 million in revenue in 2011. In 2018-19, the club’s fortunes had turned around: It banked $3.5 million on $34 million in revenue, thanks primarily to $22.7 million from Ligue 1’s broadcasting deals. Ligue 2 teams received only $5.4 million.

Private Equity Stakes Its Claim

In March, CVC Capital Partners acquired 13% of Ligue 1’s media rights business for $1.6 billion.

The league reported $680.4 million in losses from the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic.

La Liga struck a similar, $2.1 billion deal with CVC in December for a stake in its media and broadcast rights over 50 years.