Takeover of Le Coq Sportif: offer submitted by several investors

Paris - A consortium including several investors, such as Xavier Niel, and the American group Iconix (Lee Cooper, Umbro) submitted an offer of 60 million euros to take over the sports equipment company Le Coq Sportif, which was placed in receivership at the end of November, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Le Coq Sportif, a supplier for the French delegation at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, was placed in receivership in November. Founded in Romilly-sur-Seine (Aube), the brand has approximately 300 employees in France.

In a statement released the day after the deadline for takeover bids, a consortium announced that it had submitted an offer to “refocus Le Coq Sportif around its brand DNA of ‘accessible and popular’ and deploy it globally with significant financial contributions to revive this beautiful French brand”.

This project is 51 percent supported by the investment company Neopar, a specialist in “business turnaround” and owned by the Poitrinal family; 26.5 percent by a group of investors - including Xavier Niel, sportspeople and former Le Coq Sportif executives; and 22.5 percent by the American group Inconix, which owns the Umbro and Lee Cooper brands.

The consortium plans to contribute a total of 60 million euros, which would be “injected immediately”, it was stated to AFP. The project also benefits from “the support of Intersport and numerous multi-brand retailers”, the statement said.

Last March, the Grand Est region indicated that two buyers were in the running to take over Le Coq Sportif, including one supported by the state. The region had agreed to cancel 50 percent of its claims against the company to facilitate its takeover.

Le Coq Sportif is indebted to public bodies for an amount of between 60 and 70 million euros. The company has notably benefited from several loans from the French state, totalling 42 million euros, the Grand Est region also mentioned.