Club Brugge is looking for a buyer, its owner, the Belgian businessman Bart Verhaeghe, studying “the best opportunities on the market” even if “nothing is concrete yet”, indicated the champion of Belgium in title in a press release.
The current management thus reacted on Wednesday to information from the local press which affirmed on Tuesday that the Club was for sale.
“The world of football is changing rapidly. At Club Brugge, we have been preparing for the future for years, examining all the possibilities that can sustainably strengthen our leading position on the Belgian market and secure the future of the club,” said the management of the Blauw en Zwart without confirming or clearly invalidate the sale.
“After a decade in the presidency, Bart Verhaeghe and the group of owners are ready to embark on other activities than football”, can we read in a prospectus intended for potential buyers, revealed by Sporza television.
Bart Verhaeghe, president of the club since 2011, and his Belgian associates currently hold 71.89% of the company’s shares, with the American investment fund Orkila Capita holding 23.26% of the shareholding.
According to a recent expertise, the value of the Venice of the North club would be 229 million euros while Verhaeghe’s initial investment had been 15 million euros.
The local media argue that only a foreign buyer will be able to make such an investment while seventeen of the twenty-five Belgian professional clubs are already in the hands of foreign capital.
Regularly present in recent years in the group stage of the Champions League (the “Gazelles” have reached the round of 16 this season), Club Brugge is the most successful Belgian club (18 national titles) behind Anderlecht (34 ).
