Blueco Are New Shareholders Of RC Strasbourg Alsace As Chelsea Complete £65m Majority Stake Takeover
Written by Olaleye Oluwadamilola
The shareholders of French outfit, Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace have today announced an agreement with BlueCo, the consortium which purchased Chelsea FC in May 2022 with the London based club acquiring a £65m majority stake takeover in bid to following Man City’s model of developing young players.
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Chelsea have completed the first purchase in their bid to build a multi-club network by buying a majority stake in French club, RC Strasbourg through BlueCo consortium, the club confirmed in an official statement.
The agreement would mark a new chapter in Racing’s history as the ownership consortium commits to accelerate sustainable investment in the club’s growth, including in the first teams and in the Academy, in continuity with the project implemented by Marc Keller, who would remain President of the club, supported by his current management team.
President of the Strasbourg club, Marc Keller declared after the takeover completion: “This is an important day for Racing, It’s something my shareholder friends and I have been thinking about for the past two years. We’ve built a club that’s healthy at every level and well managed.”
“Although there was no financial urgency, we were aware that we had reached the ceiling of our model, and if we wanted to continue driving Racing forward and projecting it into a new dimension, we necessarily needed to be accompanied by a solid structure capable of supporting our development and our ambition. I am therefore delighted of the perspective to welcome a new strategic investor, with whom we would accelerate the club’s ambition to build the Racing of tomorrow.”
The BlueCo shareholders stated: “It is an honour for us to be part of this historic club. We are committed to preserving the heritage of Racing and are focused on working closely with Marc and his management team to continue the excellent work they have been doing. This strategic investment would further our presence in European football, alongside our ownership of Chelsea. We believe it would create huge opportunities to share knowledge and expertise.”
The arrival of BlueCo marks the culmination of two years of reflection by the club’s shareholders to usher in a new phase. “The aim is to enable Racing to be even more ambitious and competitive in a football world that has changed considerably, particularly with the massive arrival of foreign investors in many French clubs and the evolution of Ligue 1 from 20 to 18 clubs.
“The arrival of the consortium should enable us to take this step forward,” continued Marc Keller “it’s a question of putting in place the conditions for a new ambition, moving forward with continuity, building on the foundations that have made us successful. I am proud, after eleven years of hard work with all those who have contributed to its success, to enable the club to further its ambition, with responsibility. We’re doing it for our fans, for our partners, for our town and our region”
Through its involvement and recognised expertise in sport, BlueCo plans to make an active contribution to the development of the model implemented by Marc Keller. First, financially, by providing capital that will enable investment in the men’s and women’s first teams, the Academy and across the club.
It also plans to provide Racing access to broad resources and collaboration. Racing’s teams would be able to exchange advice and expertise with Chelsea and the other teams which the owners are involved with.
The proposed transaction is subject to a consultation process with the relevant employee representative bodies.
In accordance with Professional Football League regulations, the project was presented today to the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) , whose assessment is expected in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile…
Chelsea have completed the first purchase in their bid to build a multi-club network by buying French club Strasbourg as part of Co-owner Todd Boehly’s plans to make the London club one of a number of connected clubs early in his Stamford Bridge reign, with the City Group, spearheaded by Manchester City, and Red Bull setups among those admired.
The Boehly and Clearlake Capital Consortium had looked at clubs in a number of countries including Belgium, Portugal, Brazil and also considered buying into some of Strasbourg’s French rivals.
Chelsea were not commenting on the size of the stake but reports in France claimed the Blues’ owners had bought the entire club at a cost of around £65m.
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Strasbourg president Marc Keller will retain his position and Strasbourg will run independently from Chelsea as the French side will now hope the new investment will allow them to become a top eight side as well as improve all teams and the infrastructure across the club.
There will also be sharing of resources and expertise by Chelsea while the partnership will also allow them to use Strasbourg to help develop players, including those from overseas who might immediately be eligible to move straight to England,
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