'It's a unique opportunity', Ineos says after acquiring French Ligue 1 soccer club Nice

Record ID: 1428874

  • Title: 'It's a unique opportunity', Ineos says after acquiring French Ligue 1 soccer club Nice
  • Date: 27th August 2019
  • Summary: LINTON, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MAY 1, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHRIS FROOME RIDING TEAM INEOS BIKE IN NEW KIT VARIOUS OF FROOME WITH TEAM BOSS DAVE BRAILSFORD AND TEAM INEOS OWNER, JIM RATCLIFFE FROOME RIDING BIKE VARIOUS OF FROOME, BRAILSFORD AND RATCLIFFE POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH BIKE PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JULY 21, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FROOME ON PODIUM AFTER WINNING THE 2013 TOUR DE FRANCE
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2019 15:55
  • Keywords: football Jim Ratcliffe French Ligue 1 Ineos Team Ineos Ineos Football soccer club Team Sky OGC Nice Bob Ratcliffe British billionaire
  • Location: NICE AND PARIS, FRANCE / LOS CABOS, MEXICO / LINTON & LONDON, ENGLAND AND CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: NICE AND PARIS, FRANCE / LOS CABOS, MEXICO / LINTON & LONDON, ENGLAND AND CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA004ATZUR7J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe hopes to make Nice one of the strongest teams in France after his company Ineos bought the club, his brother Bob said in a news conference in the French city on Tuesday (August 27).
    Ratcliffe agreed on Monday to buy 100% of the club's shares through his petrochemical company for an undisclosed amount.
    The BBC reported Ineos had made a 100 million euros ($111.44 million) offer for Nice, currently managed by former France captain and World Cup winner Patrick Vieira, earlier this year.
    France's competition authority had cleared the takeover last week. Bob Ratcliffe did not confirm the amount paid for the club by Ineos.
    "Our target will be to be in the Champions League in a three to five year period. We're not saying this season, we're not saying tomorrow because I think to do that it's short term and I'm not sure you can sustain it," said Bob Ratcliffe, the CEO of Ineos Football, which will run he club.
    Nice, who finished seventh in Ligue 1 last season, are the latest French club to be taken over by foreign investors. Paris St. Germain, Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux have all been taken over by investors from the U.S. or the Gulf in recent years.
    France's top soccer clubs have been relatively cheap to acquire by investors in comparison to those in England or Italy.
    The financial outlook for French clubs is seen as attractive given the rising price of TV rights and the size of the fan bases in large French cities such as Nice.
    Ineos, with revenue of around $60 billion, has already invested in several sports ventures such as Swiss second division side Lausanne in 2017 and the hugely successful cycling outfit formerly known as Team Sky in May. The team, which was renamed Team Ineos, won the Tour de France last month with Colombian Egan Bernal.
    Nice, who were founded in 1904, have won their first two games this season and are currently fourth in the French championship.
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