Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan who is the owner of English Premier League club side,Manchester City and City football group, has acquired yet another club, which is Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC Troyes).
The new club which is France’s Ligue 2 side, is the tenth club that the Abu Dhabi Group will be adding to their investment and expansion in the football business. The latest buy comes following DNCG review of the acquisition.
Manchester City in a statement released on Thursday 3rd September 2020, announced that the acquisition of ESTAC Troyes
mark the club’s aim to continue their investment and expansion into global football and its strategy to develop clubs, players and academies and share knowledge across them.
ESTAC Troyes according to the information provided by the club, was founded in 1986, ESTAC calls the 20,400 capacity Stade de l’Aube, home.
The Club won the Intertoto Cup in 2001 and were Ligue 2 champions in 2014-15, finishing in fourth place, one point off promotion, when the 2019-20 season was suspended.
The English Premier League club said it will become the new majority shareholder in ESTAC Troyes, having acquired the shares owned by a previous owner, Daniel Masoni. While French businessman Maxime Ray has also acquired a minority stake in the Club. He will take a seat on the Club’s board.
Manchester City are the world’s leading private owner and operator of football clubs, and aside from their latest acquisition of ESTAC Troyes, they are also the owners of: New York City in the US, Melbourne City FC in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, Mumbai City FC in India and Lommel SK in Belgium.
Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive of City Football Group while speaking on their new buy, said:
“We have had an interest in French football for some time and have long admired ESTAC Troyes, so we are delighted to have completed the acquisition of our tenth club and have a permanent presence in France. This is a milestone for City Football Group and demonstrates how our model continues to adapt and grow in a relatively short space of time.
“At City Football Group, our objective remains to play beautiful football, identify and develop grassroots talent and have a permanent presence in the world’s football centres.
There is no doubt that France is one of the top football countries in the world and we are proud to be part of that community. We look forward to getting to know our new home and the Club’s fans and working together to create a bright future for ESTAC.
We would also like to thank Mr Masoni for all his contributions to the Club”.