Liverpool FC Owner Fenway in Talks to Buy French Football Club

(Bloomberg) — French football team FC Girondins De Bordeaux is in discussions with Fenway Sports Group, the American owner of Liverpool FC, about a possible takeover.

Bordeaux is considering a proposal to sell a majority stake of its capital to FSG, according to a statement Tuesday. The six-time French champions have been struggling financially, and without new funding risk being relegated by DNCG, the French football regulator.

FSG confirmed in a statement it’s in the “early stages” of talks.

Bordeaux, which last won the league in 2009, currently plays in the French second division. It went into administration in 2021 and has since been owned by the former Lille FC owner Gerard Lopez. After its financial troubles continued, the DNCG provisionally recommended the club be relegated to the third division for the upcoming season.

Liverpool had been one of a dwindling number of Premier League teams to not have acquired teams overseas. Manchester City owns a string of teams from Brazil to Belgium; Chelsea owns FC Strasbourg; and Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe owns French team Nice. There are currently about 370 teams that are part of so-called multiclub groups, up from roughly 200 in 2020, according to CIES, the football consultancy group.

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