A Toulouse sale? “Not the right time” for RedBird

Since RedBird Capital Partners' acquisition of Toulouse in the summer of 2020, no representative of the New York investment firm had ever spoken publicly. Its founder and CEO, Gerry Cardinale, had occasionally raised the subject during conferences. But no member of the American investment fund had ever held a press conference, for example. And even less so in the Pink City.

The interview given this Thursday to La Dépêche du Midi by Neil Chugani, interim general manager and president of TFC since the surprise departure of Damien Comolli to Juventus , therefore represents a small event. Even more so given the tense situation in Haute-Garonne . The manager, on site for several days and responsible for ensuring the transition, as revealed by L'Équipe, specified in particular that the club was "ideally" looking for a new president of French nationality and data compatible, "who supervises this and understands this strategy" . According to him, this appointment will "probably take more than a week". Among the options being studied, Olivier Cloarec (ex-Rennes) and Julien Fournier (ex-Nice) are high on the shortlist.

Chugani, who met with Olivier Sadran (who remains a minority shareholder with a 15% stake) on Wednesday, also wanted to deliver messages. Carles Martinez Novell will remain the coach and "a key element of the project." Few changes are expected to take place, while a possible sale was recently mentioned with the interest of the Emirati fund World Gate Investment (WGI), revealed again by L'Équipe .

"I'm here to provide some stability. We're in this for the long term."

"I'm here to provide a form of stability," assured RedBird's special correspondent. "We're committed for the long term. We recently considered selling the club. Because it's our business, it's what RedBird does. Our investment in Toulouse was a great success. But we understand that it's a club with a lot of potential, an asset, and it wouldn't really be the right time to sell. Everything changes all the time, depending on the environment. Now, it's not the right time; it's the time for the owner to invest. " Additional capital was also injected during the week, according to him. This could allow work to resume on the performance center, which is currently on hold. Neil Chugani said he plans to visit the site next week.