FC Nantes sale off: Waldemar Kita ends talks with Phenix Capital

The sale of FC Nantes is off. On Thursday, Waldemar Kita announced by statement the end of discussions with Phenix Capital, the fund with which he had opened exclusive negotiations on 28 September.

Guarantees that never came

The statement does not spare the buyer. The takeover candidate and his advisers “were not able to provide the announced financial guarantees, nor to assemble the complete file the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, needs to validate such an operation”. With that file never complete, “Mr Waldemar Kita has decided to put an end to all ongoing discussions, the takeover project plainly not being a serious one”, writes the text published by RMC Sport.

Phenix Capital brings together investors from France, Portugal and Luxembourg around the Franco-Portuguese Paulo Tavares, described as a former players’ agent by Foot Mercato. Kita, for his part, stays on message: “My priority has always been to ensure the stability and the development of FC Nantes, and to look after its interests and those of its employees.”

A takeover nobody at the club backed

The club’s works council, the CSE, had voted “unanimously against” the sale, and supporter group La Brigade Loire had unfurled a banner in the stands: “Le FC Nantes mérite un repreneur sain”, FC Nantes deserve a sound owner. That owner will not arrive; the president stays.

On the pitch the calendar waits for no one. Fourteenth in Ligue 2 after nine matches (two wins, two draws, five defeats), Grégory Poirier’s side travel to Saint-Étienne on Saturday evening (8pm local kick-off) for matchday ten. When Nantes drew 0-0 with Reims on 10 October, the sale was still waiting on the DNCG (our report). Nineteen years into Kita’s presidency, France’s eight-time champions stay with him.