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By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, April 11 - Canal Plus said on Tuesday that
it had agreed to sell Paris St Germain to a group of investors
led by Colony Capital, Butler Capital Partners and Morgan
Stanley.
Canal Plus, the pay-TV division of French media giant
Vivendi, said it had sold the club, one of the traditional
powers of French soccer but recently starved of silverware, for
41 million euros ($49.66 million).
"Its the first French club bought by investors but I can bet
it's not the last," Sebastien Bazin, Colony Capital's chairman
in Europe, told a news conference.
"The new chairman will be Alain Cayzac, a long-time
executive at the club and also a shareholder," Canal Plus said
in a statement.
"Alain Cayzac will be the real boss of the club," Bazin
added.
Cayzac, who sold his stake of under two percent in PSG to
Canal Plus in July 2005 after failing to buy the club, takes
over from Pierre Blayau.
LACOMBE STAYS
He hinted current coach Guy Lacombe should stay in charge
next season.
"This season's work has been outstanding," said Cayzac. "We
need continuity and stability. So I come with Guy Lacombe, who
is someone I appreciate. I come with him unless he does not want
to work with me."
Canal Plus, which bought the rights to broadcast Ligue 1
matches in 2004 for a record fee of 600 million euros ($727.4
million) each year until 2007, has spent heavily on PSG over the
last 15 years but the club has not won the French title since
1994.
They are eighth in the 20-team division with 50 points from
34 matches.
The capital side have failed to meet the expectations of
their fans with only cup successes to celebrate in recent
seasons and have also been tainted by the violent behaviour
hooligans associated with them.
PSG have a long history of failing to get the best from
talented players. Juventus and France striker David Trezeguet
was judged not strong enough to play for the club while world
and European footballer of the year Ronaldinho spent a lot of
his time on the substitutes' bench before leaving for Barcelona.