In recent hours, the Standard takeover file seems to have taken another turn, almost definitive. On January 23, we revealed to you the presence, in Sclessin, of investors from across the Atlantic. Later, we learned that they were Jared Porter (the former general manager of the New York Mets, MLB baseball franchise) And John Chayka, former general manager of the Coyotes hockey team of the Arizona, present on behalf of his company JKC Capital. The two men are also accompanied by Garry Drummond (ex-president of the Arizona Coyotes).
This trail leading to these American and Canadian investors seemed to hold the rope. On February 11, we also specified that the American investment fund 777, which recently bought Genoa and which has minority shares in Seville, was also part of the short list in the same way as the Russian billionaire Sergey Lomakin. Following the conflict that broke out in Ukraine, the Russian track logically fell into the water.
That left JKC Capital and 777 Partners. The two candidates were fighting at a distance and it was up to whoever would make the best possible offer. According to our information, the proposal made by 777 Partners would have been considered insufficient but it would have had the impact of increasing that of JKC Capital which, at present, would hold the rope. An agreement in principle is even mentioned between Bruno Venanzi and JKC Capital by our colleagues from Tijd (evoking the sum of 50M€). On the Standard side, we refuse to comment, preferring to warn club staff at the appropriate time.
On February 26, a day after the departure of the CEO, Alexandre Grosjean, we wrote that JKC Capital could become the majority shareholder around 75%, which would leave Bruno Venanzi with 25% of the shares. The position of CEO could then go to John Chayka. Finally, as Bruno Venanzi told us last November, all the investors were also ready to invest in Immobilière Standard de Liège. This is obviously the case of JKC Capital and, according to our information, a meeting was also held to this effect on Monday with the main parties concerned. JKC Capital therefore seems very close to taking over the club and is above all ready to invest quickly to best prepare for the 2022-2023 season, which should see Standard return to objectives that are more in line with its history.
