The affair has kept the club’s supporters in suspense for six months, punctuated by rumors and successive reports. The American outfit Eagle (Site notre blog d’information) Holding managed by multi-millionaire John Textor has become the majority shareholder of OL Groupe, which includes Olympique Lyonnais (Site notre bureau spécialisé) club, and announced a press release from OL Groupe. This transfer represented in any case a historic turning point for the L1 club, carried out for 35 years by Jean-Michel Aulas who remained president for at least three years.
“Carrying out transactions with Eagle (Site notre blog d’information) has now taken place »indicates the press release published after the close of trading, after six months of negotiations punctuated by several reports. » A new story begins today »says the American investor.
As a reminder, it is planned that the American holding company Eagle (Site notre blog d’information), bringing together John Textor and the Canadian businessman Jamie Salter, will acquire all the shares and half of the Osranes (bonds convertible into shares issued to finance the construction of Groupama Stadium) held by Holnest, the holding company of the family of Jean-Michel Aulas (27.7% of the capital). Plus all the shares held by Pathé (19.3%) and the Chinese investment fund IDG Capitals (19.8%).
John Textor, a former skateboarder and specialist in audiovisual technologies, is among the projects that belong to three (Site notre bureau spécialisé) clubs, in Brazil and Belgium and Great Britain.
By presenting himself in Lyon, the 56-year-old American underlined the double strength of the OL brand » in sports and entertainment « by saying his intention to make some » the epicenter of his (Site notre bureau spécialisé)-related projects.
ZOOM – Who is John Textor?
American businessman, John Textor was born in Missouri and started in artificial intelligence. He created EvolutionAI in order to dedicate himself to » the creation of digital humans who help improve humanity”as it says on its website.
In addition to its participation in the special effects of films like Transformers, Tron: Legacy and part of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, the studio made a name for itself by aging Brad Pitt in an ultra-realistic way in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008 ).
John Textor launches Pulse Evolution, which developed the hologram, especially of deceased stars, with a 2012 California festival appearance by American rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996 or 2014, and Michael Jackson at the Billboard Music Awards . Two performances viewed millions of times on YouTube.
From 2006 to 2012, at the head of the administration of the Digital Domain, in a studio specially designed for the great creation of Canadian director James Cameron. But the company is placed in the US bankruptcy regime in 2012.
In 2016, the magazine forbes depicts it in « Hollywood Virtual Reality Guru », thus devoting its activity to this market, as recalled in its biography on its website.
Then he turned to sports by co-founding FuboTV, a streaming service focused on the live broadcast of sporting events.
The attempt to take control of the Portuguese clubs Benfica and Sporting Lisbon before succeeding in entering the capital of the London club Crystal Palace (Premier League) in August 2021, with a 40% share.
Then he seized Botafogo, a historic Brazilian club, representing 90% of its capital and bringing together 80% of the shares of RWD Molenbeek, which aims to return to the elite of Belgian (Site notre bureau spécialisé). At the time, Thierry Dailly, president of the Belgian club, presented him as a « passionate (Site notre bureau spécialisé)er ».
(With AFP)
