French billionaire Arnault family, owners of luxury goods groups LVMH France, one of the richest dynasties on earth, is preparing to take a majority stake in minor football club Paris FC but sees any shift in the sporting world as a long-term goal.
Antoine Arnault, son of LVMH chief executive and chairman Bernard Arnault, told CNBC the investment in the second-tier club is more “emotional” than financial as it looks to replicate Red Bull’s success in its sport Acquire a German football club yourself Leipzig and Salzburg, Austria.
According to the Associated Press, the Arnold family will cooperate with Red Bull in the Paris Football Club, with the family holding company Agache initially holding a 52% stake and the energy drink giant acquiring 11%.
Arnault said his family is more “interested in and creating value, not only in terms of sport, but also in terms of branding” than other clubs, which is Paris Football Club.
“There is an anomaly in French football and PSG, it is probably the only big city in Europe that has only one big football club. PSG already has the infrastructure, already has a great team, already has a great history, but It just takes a stronger shareholder financially to push it to the next level,” Arnold told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.
Antoine Arnault speaks to the media during a press conference for Groupe ADP – Center d’entrainement Paris FC on November 20, 2024 in Orly, France.
Christy Sparrow | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Compared with the Qatari giants Paris Saint-Germain, which has dominated French domestic football for decades, attracted world-class stars and participated in international competitions, Paris Football Club is an unknown club. The last time it played in the top league was in the 1970s.
Asked if he saw PSG as a potential challenger, Arnault said: “It would be immodest if we compared ourselves to PSG. The first goal is to get into the First Division and go up, And then scale, and then building a beautiful club with good values ​​that our fans love, respect and want to come back to for the next game.
“I think it’s really important not to have the pressure of time to succeed, to make the right decisions, and to take a little bit of the pressure off players who are under the pressure of traditional sports, which is positive, but sometimes for a major shareholder like this It’s also negative,” he said.
“We are not an investment fund. We are not asking them to win the Champions League in three, five, 10 years, just to do their best and give everything on the pitch.”
The team will gain further impetus with the recent appointment of Jürgen Klopp, who has led English club Liverpool to Premier League success, as Red Bull’s global director of football. Klopp is expected to work with the Arnold family in an advisory capacity.
Wealthy families and corporations have long viewed high-profile sports teams as attractive acquisitions, often viewing them as so-called “trophy assets” or branding opportunities rather than as financial assets given the enormous costs involved. An important money-making tool.
Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been leading the charge since 2020 In a somewhat opposite strategy, Wrexham AFC, a small and troubled Welsh club then in England’s fifth tier of football, was acquired and a globally successful documentary was made about their efforts to turn around their fortunes and gain a foothold in the league. efforts to rise in China.
But the Arnault family’s takeover has been compared more to that of Red Bull, whose investment has brought both Leipzig and Salzburg into the domestic top flight and given them a Red Bull-branded arena – though Provoking intense anger from fans of rival clubsProcessing.
Arnold told CNBC that if his family wanted “showcase assets,” they would look elsewhere.
“What we wanted to do was create a story of resilience, a story of hard work with good values,” he said.
