The Social and Economic Committee (CSE) of AS Saint Étienne was convened for an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to examine an offer to take over from the Canadian investment fund Kilmer, we learned on Monday from the management of the League club. 2.
Questioned by AFP, management clarified that the agenda did not include a point “relating to a possible employment protection plan within the company”, which has 270 employees (210 in equivalent time -full), players and training center included.
A meeting of the board of directors of the ASSE Groupe company, the holding company which controls SASP AS Saint-Etienne, is also scheduled for Wednesday, according to the same source.
AS Saint-Etienne, which has been looking for a buyer for several years, has suffered several setbacks.
In 2018, the club entered into exclusive negotiations with the American fund Peak 6, which ultimately did not follow up a few days before the end of the exclusivity period.
Subsequently, after the fiasco of the TV rights contract signed by the Professional Football League (LFP) with the Mediapro group, the club was officially put back up for sale in 2021 under pressure from supporter groups and the City of Saint -Etienne. At the time, the mayor called for “a new lease of life” arousing the interest of more or less serious candidates.
Foreign investors such as the American David Blitzer or the Russian Sergeï Lomakin, French people like Jacques Pauly, a businessman from Gers, or the Drôme entrepreneur Olivier Markarian, former sponsor of ASSE, but also the Cambodian prince Norodom Ravichak have shown interest in the past without anything coming to fruition.
Currently, the economic situation of the Ligue 2 club, which has a budget of 27 million euros this season and a structural deficit of around 15 million euros, requires new financial momentum between now and the end of the season.
Kilmer Group, a Toronto-based firm specializing in private equity, real estate and the sports and media sector, is led by its Canadian founder, Lawrence Tanenbaum. The latter has been involved for several years in the world of sports (basketball, hockey and football), according to the group’s website.
Questioned by AFP, the club’s management denied press reports on Monday according to which ASSE would be summoned on Thursday before the DNCG, the financial policeman of French football.
