Girondins de Bordeaux sold to US fund Park Bench for one euro ahead of sixth-tier start
US-based investment fund Park Bench has acquired French football club Girondins de Bordeaux for €1, assuming roughly €18 million in debt as the team prepares to compete in the sixth tier.
Ownership transfer and buyout terms
United States investment fund Park Bench purchased French football club Girondins de Bordeaux on Wednesday for a symbolic price of €1 ($1.14). The transaction ends the five-year ownership of Spanish-Luxembourgish businessman Gerard Lopez, who departed following repeated financial crises. Park Bench, a data analytics and software company with an investment portfolio, is owned by American Evan Sofer and Briton James Bord. The firm already holds shares in Spanish second-division club Cordoba and maintains majority ownership of Scottish Championship team Dunfermline Athletic.
This operation is concluded for a symbolic euro with the assumption of debts.
Financial liabilities and regulatory approvals
Park Bench will assume existing liabilities to stabilize the club and avoid liquidation. French media outlet Ici reported that the total debt to be assumed is close to €18 million. The club also confronts an immediate financing requirement of approximately €10 million, resulting from outstanding transfer fees and training compensation owed to other teams. Regional newspaper Sud Ouest reported that this debt will be restructured with an extended repayment timeline. The buyers will appear before the Regional Management Control Commission of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Football League in the coming days to seek approval for the 2026–2027 budget. The Bordeaux Commercial Court must also ratify the plan to prevent the club from being liquidated.
- Assumed club debt (Ici report)
- 18 €M
- Immediate financing need
- 10 €M
Administrative demotions through the league tiers
The change in control follows a multi-year decline through the French football league pyramid. Bordeaux suffered sporting relegation from Ligue 1 in the spring of 2022. Due to unresolved debt obligations, the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) imposed an administrative demotion to the fourth tier, National 2, in the summer of 2024. Having entered administration twice since 2021, the club was excluded from all national leagues earlier this year by the DNCG. The squad will now attempt to begin its 2026–2027 campaign in the sixth-tier Regional 1 division.
- Bordeaux is relegated sportingly from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2
- DNCG administratively demotes the club to the fourth-tier National 2
- DNCG excludes Bordeaux from national leagues, assigning it to sixth-tier Regional 1
- Park Bench purchases Bordeaux for one euro with assumption of debt
Club heritage and previous rescue negotiations
Bordeaux is a six-time champion of France, with its most recent top-flight league title secured in 2009. The club has won four Coupes de France, claimed the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup, played in four UEFA Champions League campaigns, and reached the 1996 UEFA Cup final. Former players include French World Cup winners Zinédine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu, and Christophe Dugarry, alongside European championship winners Alain Giresse, Patrick Battiston, Bernard Lacombe, and Jean Tigana. Belgian forward Marc Wilmots played for the club during the 2000–2001 season, while Raymond Goethals managed the squad across two separate stints (1978–1980 and 1989–1990). During the 1980s, German internationals Klaus Allofs, Manfred Kaltz, Uwe Reinders, and Dieter Müller represented the side. The sale to Park Bench follows previous unsuccessful takeover discussions with British investment fund Sparta Capital and earlier talks with former German national team goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
