- Consortium also controls Barnsley, KV Oostende and FC Thun
- CFG had been close to Nancy deal before Covid-19 outbreak
French second-tier soccer club AS Nancy have been acquired by a consortium that includes Chinese-American businessman Chien Lee and advertising solutions firm Pacific Media Group (PMG).
Other investors include Partners Path Capital, Krishen Sud, the founder of Sivik Global Healthcare, and Gauthier Ganye, who has been appointed the new president of Nancy.
The value of the takeover has not been disclosed, but the deal makes Nancy the fourth soccer club to fall under the consortium’s ownership. The group already has stakes in Belgian top-flight team KV Oostende, English second-tier side Barnsley and FC Thun, who compete in the Swiss second division.
Ganye, who replaces Jacques Rousselot at Nancy, will also continue as executive president of KV Oostende, having previously served as chief executive of Barnsley and president of French top-tier club OGC Nice.
PMG’s successful takeover comes after City Football Group (CFG), owner of Premier League giants Manchester City, switched its focus away from acquiring Nancy. In April 2020, CFG said it planned to press ahead with a €14 million (US$17.1 million) acquisition, having been on the verge of wrapping up a deal the month prior, only for Covid-19 to suspend negotiations.
In September, CFG instead took a majority shareholding in Troyes, also in Ligue 2, to take its total number of clubs around the world to ten. Troyes were valued at between €7 million (US$7.97 million) and €10 million (US$11.39 million) after their most recent audit by the National Management Control Directorate (DNCG), the French financial regulator.
On the pitch, Nancy are in wretched form and are without a win in nine games, a run that has seen them slip to 17th in the Ligue 2 table.
AS Nancy
