The future of Nîmes Olympique: a club to sell or leave ?

Rani Assaf participated in the takeover of Nîmes Olympique in April 2014. Will he pass the ten-year mark ? Midi Free – ALEXIS BETHUNE

The stadium or rather the stadiums, the capital of the company or rather the accordion, potential buyers, former international players: an update on the – complex – situation of Nîmes Olympique.  And a desire : "Preparing for after Rani Assaf". It still has to be that of the person concerned…

To be or not to be a salesman, that is the question. Rani Assaf, or rather “Fantômassaf”, last appearance during an official match more than eight months ago (on the evening of the relegation against Dijon, May 20), refuses to announce publicly that he wishes to sell Nîmes Olympique, acquired partially in April 2014 and almost completely in June 2015.

However, someone close to the club sets the scene: "We need to prepare for the post-Assaf era". If no one wants their name mentioned, everyone is active behind the scenes. But everyone must keep in mind that the president of NO since 2016, majority shareholder, remains the master of the game.

The context

Many of them are attached to the future of the Crocodiles and are working, even in the shadows, on this issue which will be an issue in the next municipal elections in the capital of the Antonines. If the dialogue is broken between Rani Assaf and the City of Nîmes, we know that the honorary president Jean-Jacques Bourdin keeps the attentive ear of the current boss of the club, as does the president of the Métropole Franck Proust .

Does this mean that these two, who are close, will be able to play a binding role and bring Assaf, the town hall (with Julien Plantier, 1st deputy mayor) to the same negotiating table, and potential buyers ? The future will tell, as the association “Sauvons le Nîmes Olympique”, via its socios project, is preparing to launch a fundraising campaign.

Value and buyers

In the meantime, at least two pools of potential investors have already come forward, which we are told are “national in scope, French, with a group of people from the world of football and the real estate sector. Names of former international players came back to our ears: Christian Karembeu and Franck Silvestre in one project, Sabri Lamouchi, who played for Alès, in another. It's not really a surprise, to see Peguy Luyindula interested in the takeover of Orléans (aborted), N’Golo Kanté owner of Virton (Belgium, trained by the Arpinon-Ghalem duo), Demba Ba in Dunkirk.

If no offer is yet official, it remains subject to several parameters. Because what is Nîmes Olympique worth today ? Between a hypothetical renovation of Costières and the Bastide, a training center in a flood zone, a possible real estate project to be rethought and a precarious sporting situation (NO is 14th in National and relegation, Editor's note), the file is complex. But not uninteresting for investors. Who could also find local entrepreneurs ready to follow them on the adventure.

The price ? It all depends on whether the buyer takes the club and the temporary stadium, or only the shares of the SASP (professional sports limited company). CEO Assaf could want between 10 and 15 million euros; depending on the package. Others see the deal closing between 6-7 and 12 million euros. "The entry ticket is very high", concedes someone close to management. Who, at this amount, will want to follow, while many National, L2 and L1 clubs, for the most part more attractive and better structured, are for sale ?

The stadium(s)

The Costières stadium still belongs to the City. The sales agreement signed with SAS Nemau owned by Rani Assaf runs until the end of 2024, but the town hall refused the building permit following the unfavorable opinion given by Cnac, the national commission of ;commercial development.

She then commissioned a study to estimate the cost of renovating the enclosure, which is no longer approved (fire safety to be reviewed, in particular) to accommodate professional football. "We are waiting for the return in spring, possibly in March", specifies Julien Plantier.

The Antonins stadium is owned by SAS Nemau and therefore by Rani Assaf, via a provisional building permit. The land is leased to the City. An agreement provides for Nîmes Olympique to play there for five years, until 2027, the year during which the temporary enclosure must be dismantled.

Except that the agreement can be renewed once, therefore until 2032. This stadium cost around 11 million euros; in Rani Assaf, including the permanent building which houses changing rooms, reception area, press room, etc. And the tool, which can accommodate 8,033 spectators, pleases. According to our information, the clubs of Cholet and Niort (National) have expressed an interest in purchasing the stands. "An offer of 8.5 M€ was even formulated", a well-informed source believes.

Capital

For several years, Rani Assaf and SAS “Sport développement gardois”, a minority shareholder, have been at loggerheads. Latest episode to date: the SAS, represented by Alain Gazeau, son of former president Jean-Louis Gazeau (2002-2014) and Daniel Roticci, filed an appeal against the modification of the capital of the professional section at the end of 2023, and the dilution of its shares. In economic jargon, we call this an accordion move.

In June 2022, an extraordinary general meeting approved a capital reduction of 3.4 million euros, the equivalent of the club's losses for the 2020-2021 season. The capital then increasing from 4.2 M€ to 838,000 €, with the consequence of a drop in the value of the shares, reduced by 23 € at 4.57 € the unit. Then, at the end of 2022, the capital was increased again and brought to €6.8 million. Like MM. Gazeau-Roticci did not subscribe, they now only hold around 3% of Nîmes Olympique, compared to 20% previously. What the duo disputes in court.

"What we would especially not want is for Rani Assaf to leave by filing for bankruptcy and for us to find ourselves without a stadium, with a club which will take, at the very least, six years to return to Ligue 2. We need to be able to maintain a constructive dialogue,” summarizes one of our interlocutors. And another concludes: "This file is a 14-cushion billiard shot!"

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