From the Athletic
Sunderland have announced that an agreement has been reached for Kyril Louis-Dreyfus to acquire current owner Stewart Donald’s controlling interest in the club. The club are waiting on approval by the EFL for Louis-Dreyfus to become chairman in the new year.
How long has Donald been trying to sell the club?
Donald became owner of Sunderland in 2018, buying the club from its billionaire owner Ellis Short. Donald has been actively trying to sell Sunderland since the start of the year.
Chief executive Jim Rodwell said in October that Sunderland had a preferred bidder currently in a period of exclusivity. It then emerged that that bidder was a consortium led by minority shareholder Juan Sartori and Louis-Dreyfus.
Who is Louis-Dreyfus?
The 23-year-old is one of three heirs to the Louis Dreyfus Company. Their worldwide empire has involvement in agriculture, food processing and international shipping, and amassed sales worth £33.6 billion in its most recent financial year.
His late father Robert was Marseille’s largest shareholder from 1996 until his death from leukemia in 2009, when control of the club was handed to Margarita.
He has been heavily involved in football since a young age, undertaking an internship at Marseille’s training ground as a teenager. Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy, who played for Marseille between 2013 and 2016, and current vice-captain Florian Thauvin are also said to regard Louis-Dreyfus as a younger brother, such was his presence around the club’s first-team squad.
What has been said?
In a statement, Louis-Dreyfus said it would be “an enormous honour to become involved with such a historic club, in a city renowned for its rich football culture going back to 1879.”
He said that he had “a long-term strategy which integrates Sunderland’s proud traditions with a modern structure and approach”.
“We want to create a team that is entertaining to watch and that embodies the spirit and the culture of those who attend, thereby reconnecting the team with its fanbase, whose support will be so vital to our success.”
Current owner Donald added that he believed “experience, combined with a good plan, will provide a platform for the club to progress and I look forward to watching that progress from afar”.
