Olympique Lyonnais Receives €30M Installment From Chinese Investors

OL Groupe, the holding company that controls Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais, announced that it received the first €30M ($31.2M) “promised by its new Chinese investors,” according to L’ÉQUIPE. The IDG European Sports Investment fund provided €11.66M ($12.1M) of new shares and €18.34M ($19M) of new bonds. IDG will invest a total of €100M ($104M) in the OL Groupe, “which will serve to offset the large debt incurred by the construction of the new stadium.” OL’s new stadium was “entirely financed by private funds,” and cost the club €480M to build. OL Groupe is set to receive another €70M ($72.7M) “in one or several installments.” At the end of the process, IDG will own 20% of the club (L’ÉQUIPE, 12/27).