Billionaire John Textor Looks To Close $846M Lyon FC Deal As Sports M&A Heats Up

Billionaire John Textor is expected to finalize his takeover of Olympique Lyonnais, or the Lyon football club, this week.

The former executive chair of fuboTV Inc. is reportedly meeting with the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) on Nov. 16 to close the transaction.

The DNCG is responsible for monitoring and overseeing the ownership of top-tier football clubs in France.

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To finance the deal, Textor is backed by Ares Management, which recently announced it raised $3.7 billion in capital to invest in sports, media and entertainment companies.

Textor already owns a majority stake in Brazilian team Botafogo (for an estimated $60 million); an 18% stake in Crystal Palace FC for £87.5 million (about $121.34 million); and Belgian second-tier club RWD Molenbeek.

Olympique Lyonnais isn't the only football (soccer) club for sale. Among the more expensive targets currently on the auction block are the Premiere League’s Manchester United MANU and Liverpool, valued at $4.6 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively.

Chelsea, also in the Premier League, was recently sold to Los Angeles Dodgers' owner Todd Boehly, for £4.25 billion ($5.4 billion), ending the 19-year run of Russian oligarch Roman Abrahomvich.

Boehly is a partial owner of Vivid Seats Inc SEAT and Sportradar SRAD.

In the U.S., the NFL franchise Washington Commanders is currently for sale.

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