John Textor, the US businessman and Crystal Palace shareholder, is close to reaching an agreement to buy a significant stake in the French club Olympique Lyonnais, The Athletic understands.

Jean-Michel Aulas, the current president and majority shareholder, is set to retain a smaller stake in the club and is expected to stay on to run the Ligue 1 side.

The US businessman Foster Gillett had been involved in an attempt to buy Lyon, whose men’s team finished eighth in Ligue 1 last season. But talks for ​​Gillett to become the club’s new majority shareholder stalled, opening the door for Textor to commence negotiations.

Lyon confirmed on Monday evening that they were in exclusive talks with Textor over a takeover.

Textor told Lyon's official website: “The project that I discovered in Lyon with Jean-Michel Aulas and all his teams will be at the epicentre of our new organisation and our investments in the service of world football.

“Olympique Lyonnais will be the cornerstone of our project. I intend, with the support of Jean-Michel and his teams, to bring out the values ​​of development and self-improvement for which I have always been committed.

“I want to give all the fans of Olympique Lyonnais the additional means so that the institution can regain the highest level, in France and in Europe, while respecting the values ​​of OL's DNA such as youth, work, self-sacrifice and this spirit which allows all the talents of the whole world to have access to the high level thanks to our involvement in the academies.”

Aulas added: “With this project, Olympique Lyonnais is opening a new chapter in its formidable history. For 35 years, my desire has always been to make Olympique Lyonnais a unique model in football, combining sporting and economic success.

“Our professional football and basketball teams, OL Reign, our mixed Academy, Groupama Stadium, as well as the construction of the new LDLC Arena within OL Vallee are already strong markers of OL Groupe's ambitions.

“The sudden departure of (shareholders) Pathe and IDG nevertheless allowed the arrival of John Textor, capable of accompanying and supporting these same ambitions. This new shareholder will be an accelerator for our current and future projects. I am proud and happy to continue, with the support of John Textor, to write the future of Olympique Lyonnais.”

Textor last year paid £90 million for a stake in Crystal Palace, having previously failed with an attempt to purchase 25 per cent of the Portuguese side Benfica.

It is understood his stake in the Premier League club is around 40 per cent.

The Athletic revealed in December that he entered into talks to buy RWD Molenbeek. Textor went on to buy 80 per cent of the Belgian second-tier club. He is also the majority shareholder of Brazilian side Botafogo.

Textor’s fellow Palace shareholders Josh Harris and David Blitzer were meanwhile part of a group that tried — and failed — to buy Chelsea, who eventually sold to a consortium fronted by Todd Boehly.

Lyon is one of France’s most successful clubs, despite the recent struggles of their men’s team.

Lyon’s women’s team has enjoyed far more success in recent years, however, winning eight Champions League titles, including a record five successive titles from 2016 to 2020.

They also won last year’s tournament, beating Barcelona 3-1 in the final

Not quite sure how this can work . Not really a problem that Textor owns teams in America who we will never play but what happens when one of his European teams faces another in competition ?

I know its a problem we would like to have but its not beyond the realms of reality that with business men buying up football in Europe that a clash interests will arrive at some time

Doesn't the owners of Udinese own Watford? Might get first choice on a favourable loan move or two.

Why do I get the feeling investing in Palace isn't perhaps what it could be?

Red and Blue Army!

We need someone to go steady with us for a while - and splash the cash sometimes.

Red and Blue Army!

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Interesting Info John Texter & his Money Men' by becky

Supposedly the guys behind are very wealthy men, just Jamie Salter, Paul Conway & Cien Lee are worth more than £7b.

It would not surprise me if these end up buying the club of Harris & Blitzer.

Paul Conway and Chien Lee, founders of Pacific Media Group LLC, Josh Wander, managing partner at 777 Partners LLC, and Randy Frankel, co-owner of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

“More and more professional investors have moved to South Florida, and they love football,” Lee said in an interview. “Football is an attractive and good asset class investment.”

Conway, who meets his contacts to discuss the evolution of soccer at Miami Beach spots including celebrity-favorite steak restaurant Prime 112 or nearby Joe’s Stone Crab, also played a part in the RWD Molenbeek deal.

“He’s acted like a friend,” said Jupiter Island resident Textor. “He’s a terrific resource and even flew to Belgium with me to introduce me to the owners of the team.”

Conway, Lee and Textor champion the multiclub ownership model that’s grown in popularity as a way of developing stars of the game without the need for hefty transfer fees. Pacific Media has spent recent years buying stakes in teams across Europe, while Textor is already invested in Crystal Palace FC of the U.K. Premier League.

“Americans are going to be owning more and more of European football,” said Conway. “A lot will go through a multiclub arrangement, where when one club struggles, the others might be able to help them.”

There are about 60 multiclub groups globally, nearly two-thirds of which have emerged since 2018, according to the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). Proponents of the strategy point to cost synergies and the potential to strike more lucrative sponsorship deals. Critics, including fans’ body Supporters Direct Europe, say it stifles competition and creates feeder teams with no real prospect of success.

John Textor, founder of Eagle Football LLC
Dubbed a “virtual-reality guru” by Forbes Magazine in 2016, Textor is chief executive officer of digital likeness and human animation company Facebank Inc. He shot to prominence in the European soccer world in 2021 by taking a stake in Crystal Palace.

The south London team are slowly carving out a reputation for exciting football under the coaching of Frenchman Patrick Vieira, the former World Cup winner installed last summer, and could now stand to benefit from talent developed at RWD Molenbeek.

“If you want to pursue a multiclub strategy you need to have the global footprint for talent identification from a market respected by the U.K.,” said Textor. “There is a very high level of play in Belgium, which is only two hours outside London.”

Named in part for Crystal Palace’s club emblem, Textor’s Eagle vehicle is also in talks to buy a minority stake in Lisbon, Portugal-based soccer giant SL Benfica, said Textor. Outside Europe, Eagle now holds 90% of Brazil’s Botafogo via a $330 million deal that completed this week, he said.

Paul Conway and Chien Lee, co-founders of Pacific Media Group
Pacific Media’s soccer stable includes stakes in AS Nancy of France, Barnsley FC in the U.K., Denmark’s Esbjerg fB, FC Thun of Switzerland and KV Oostende in Belgium.

A former Oppenheimer & Co. banker, Conway advocates the high-pressing style that’s become popular in Europe’s top leagues. Ensuring a common approach to playing this way means it’s easy to move players around his clubs if and when the need arises.

His teams rely heavily on data analysis when recruiting and developing young talent. Billy Beane, the ex-U.S. baseball player who pioneered a similar model during his time managing California’s Oakland Athletics — a story later retold in Michael Lewis’s 2003 book “Moneyball” — was an investor in Barnsley, according to Conway.

Barnsley qualified for the Championship play-offs last season, taking them to within touching distance of the lucrative Premier League. They were unsuccessful in that attempt and are now in a battle to avoid relegation from the second-tier of English football. Nancy and Oostende have also been struggling, with both in the bottom halves of their respective tables in France and Belgium.

Conway is being patient. “There are highs and lows throughout each season,” he said. “Our goal is to grow a club in a sustainable way, while also being a good custodian for the local community.”

Josh Wander, co-founder of 777 Partners
Wander’s 777 has built a portfolio of sports assets that includes streaming services and investments in British basketball. The firm targets undervalued businesses with deep connections to fan bases, according to its website, and for soccer bets Wander has so far picked two of Europe’s most historic clubs.

In September, 777 acquired ownership of Italy’s oldest soccer team, Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly known as Genoa. It already held a minority stake in Sevilla FC, one of Spain’s most successful outfits.

Wander knows Conway and Jim Pallotta, the former owner of Italian soccer club AS Roma, from living in Miami. He said he’s having multiple conversations about buying more soccer teams in Europe and elsewhere.

“Having smart and honest people investing in football globally is good for the leagues,” he said.

Although Ukrainian footballing legend Andriy Shevchenko was appointed coach of Genoa last year, the team has won just one game in the current league campaign and risks being relegated from Serie A at the end of the season.

Randy Frankel, Josh Harris
Miami local Frankel has been dipping into European soccer via investments alongside Conway. Through Partners Path Capital, run by former Tampa Bay Rays executive Michael Kalt, Frankel has been involved in Pacific Media deals including Nancy and Oostende.

“Right now, us and Pacific Media are good partners,” he said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. alumnus Frankel, who has “no shortage” of people wanting to team up for more European soccer deals, also likes the multiclub model, which he said lets an investor learn things from different countries and their peoples.

Josh Harris, a co-founder of private equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc., bought a $32 million Miami mansion last year. Like Textor, he sits on the board at Crystal Palace. Harris called time on three decades at Apollo in 2021 after missing out on the top job at the firm. He is co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which he runs with Blackstone Inc. dealmaker David Blitzer, who also has a significant interest in Crystal Palace.