FC Nantes Sale: Loire Brigade Raises Concerns Over Tavares' Financial Viability

FC Nantes could change hands for €125 million, but the club’s main supporter group, Loire Brigade, is sounding the alarm over the financial solidity of the prospective buyer, Paulo Tavares, and his company Phenix Sport Invest.

With the Canaries now competing in Ligue 2 (15th in the standings), Waldemar Kita is reportedly about to sell the club — eight-time French champions — to a pool of investors led by Tavares. A sales agreement is said to have already been signed between the two parties. The announced amount — €125 million including bonuses — has raised eyebrows among observers: FC Nantes owns neither its stadium nor its training centre, and operates in a context of historically low television rights.

In a statement published Thursday, Loire Brigade pulls no punches. “One thing is clear: FC Nantes must change ownership. But not at any price. And above all, not to trade the plague for cholera,” writes the ultra group. After several weeks of investigation, the supporters claim that “what they have discovered seriously concerns them,” pointing notably to questions about the financial situation of the Portuguese-Luxembourg group.

The doubts centre on several concrete points: the reality of the “fundraising” promised by Tavares — who reportedly blocked €30 million in an account — as well as “two real estate operations presented as guarantees” that have since disappeared from the project. Journalist Romain Molina had also publicly expressed strong reservations about the solidity of the deal on Wednesday evening.

Loire Brigade is now pinning its hopes on the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, tasked with examining and validating any takeover project. “We want to believe that the DNCG’s oversight will allow it to examine with all necessary rigour the financial capacity of any potential buyer. But recent French football history forbids us any naivety,” warn the Nantes ultras, in reference to poorly prepared takeovers that have weakened other historic clubs.