ESTAC 10^th club in CFG bouquet

Article posted by Coliseum, September 9^th, 2020

Image: Estac Troyes

Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), who play in France’s Ligue 2, has become City Football Group’s (CFG) 10th club, following a review of the acquisition by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG).

The DNCG is the organization responsible for monitoring and overseeing the accounts of professional association football clubs in France.

The City Football Group (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organizations of which 78 percent is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), 12 percent by the American firm Silver Lake and Chinese firms China Media Capital and CITIC Capital.

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The acquisition by City Football Group (CFG), the parent company that owns Manchester City, is the latest step in their continued investment and expansion of their footprints in global football and its strategy to develop clubs, players and academies and share knowledge across them.

Founded in 1986, ESTAC calls the 20,400-capacity Stade de l’Aube their home ground. The club lifted the Intertoto Cup in 2001 and were Ligue 2 champions in 2014-15, finishing in fourth place, one point off promotion, when the 2019-20 seasons was suspended.

CFG will become the new majority shareholder in the ESTAC pie, having acquired the shares owned by previous owner Daniel Masoni. French businessman Maxime Ray has also acquired a minority stake in the club. He will take a seat on the club’s board.

The club joins the camp of CFG’s line-up of clubs which includes Manchester City FC, New York City in the US, Melbourne City FC in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, Mumbai City FC in India and Lommel SK in Belgium.

Stated Ferran Soriano, head honcho of CFG, “We have had an interest in French football for some time and have long admired ESTAC, so we are delighted to have completed the acquisition of our 10th club and have a permanent presence in France. This is a milestone for City Football Group and demonstrates how our model continues to adapt and grow in a relatively short space of time.”

“At City Football Group, our objective remains to play beautiful football, identify and develop grassroots talent and have a permanent presence in the world’s football centers. There is no doubt that France is one of the top football countries in the world and we are proud to be part of that community. We look forward to getting to know our new home and the club’s fans and working together to create a bright future for ESTAC. We would also like to thank Masoni for all his contributions to the club.”

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