Clearly, nothing is working out for John Textor. Already weakened after losing control of Olympique Lyonnais, the American businessman has just been ordered by the British courts to pay more than 90 million dollars to the American fund Iconic. At issue: an agreement not respected during the takeover of OL. Textor does not intend to stop there and has announced that it will appeal.
It all starts in 2022, when Textor buys OL via its company Eagle Football. To complete the deal, the Iconic fund invested $75 million, in exchange for a 15.7% share in Eagle. In return, Textor undertakes to list the group on the New York Stock Exchange. Problem: this introduction never happened. Iconic is therefore demanding its money with interest, almost $94 million.
Textor refuses to pay
This court decision further weakens the Eagle Football galaxy, already very indebted and split between several countries: France, Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. Textor even had to sell its shares to Crystal Palace to try to turn things around. Suffice it to say that this financial setback comes at the worst time for his club empire.
The former president of OL refuses to pay, believing that the contract was poorly executed by Iconic. In the United States, another procedure is underway. The former strongman of Les Gones claims that certain investors in Iconic have links with sanctioned Russians, which would have blocked his stock market project. After the criticism in Brazil, the loss of control of OL and now this setback in court, Textor seems more than ever in difficulty.
