The Pau-Orthez basketball club, which had been downgraded to amateur level a month ago for financial reasons, was sold on Friday July 22 by Counterpointe Sports Group (CSG), an American investment fund, to buyers. local. Among the latter are Sébastien Ménard, president of the Eat4Good group and of Beautysané, and the former sports minister Thierry Braillard.
“An important step has been taken, welcomed the mayor of Pau (Modem), François Bayrou. At the end of this incredible period, finally, the club no longer belongs to the Americans. It will be taken over by the French. »
This sale marks the end of an American era, which lasted only one season, not very glorious financially with an accumulated deficit of more than two million euros, but more on the sporting level with half a final in the league and a victory in the Coupe de France.
The sale of Elan Béarnais, a historic player in French basketball holding nine French championship titles and one European title (Coupe Korac, 1984), comes at the right time. The club must be heard, Monday, July 25, by the French Basketball Federation after appealing its demotion.
With the change of owner and the payment of a planned subsidy of 1.2 million euros from the Pau-Pyrénées urban community, the Pau club should be able to assert the guarantees that were requested of it: refloating the account current, spreading the debt over three years and presentation of a more realistic forecast budget for the 2022-2023 season (a little less than 5 million euros against 7.8 million euros last season).
