Ligue 1 Uber Eats: Gérard Lopez, owner of LOSC Lille since January 2017, to sell the club (press)

Gérard Lopez, owner and president of LOSC Lille (Ligue 1 Uber Eats), is currently negotiating the sale of the club with the American investment fund Elliott Management, to which the Spanish-Luxembourg businessman is indebted to the tune of €123m, according to information from the French sports daily L'Équipe's website on 16/12/2020.

Gérard Lopez bought 100% of LOSC Lille from Michel Seydoux in January 2017 using his own funds, before borrowing money on behalf of the club from Elliott Management solely to acquire players in the transfer market.

In order to reduce its debt, the Lille club carried out a €142m capital increase in February 2019. This operation enabled the club to raise the debt to Gérard Lopez's level, from the investment fund's sole debtor. Faced with the health situation currently preventing the return of spectators to stadiums and therefore the collection of matchday revenues, a sharply declining transfer market, in addition to the crisis linked to the LFP and Mediapro litigation which will strongly impact the TV rights of LOSC Lille, Elliott Management fears that…