Sunderland's ownership group release statement after shock club sale report
A report this week stated that Sunderland had retained an investment bank ahead of a potential sale
Sunderland's ownership group have released a statement saying they are fully committed to the club after claims that they are actively considering a sale.
Footbiz reported on Friday that potential investors had been made aware of Sunderland's availability, and that US investment bank Moelis had been retained by the club. Moelis have previously been involved in the sale of Chelsea FC.
Sunderland's owners did not directly deny those claims, but said they were 'entirely committed' and that the club was 'aggressively' planning for next season having secured Premier League safety.
A statement, initially released to the i Paper, said: "Sunderland AFC’s ownership group remains entirely committed to the Club, excited by a season of immense progress and the scale of the opportunities ahead, the Club is aggressively planning for its second campaign in the Premier League.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is the club's majority shareholder with a 64% stake in the club, while Juan Sartori sits on the board and holds a 36% stake. They own Sunderland through the parent company Mercator, while the club sits in their broader portfolio of sporting investments via the Bia Sports Group. A number of key figures from the Bia Sports Group currently hold senior executive roles at Sunderland, in some cases on an interim basis. Tom Burwell, CEO of Bia, currently sits on the Sunderland board as a non-executive director and is interim CEO of the club following David Bruce's departure. Scott McCubbin is currently the interim Chief Revenue Officer of the club, while Mike Papadimitriou serves as Chief Financial Officer.
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Speaking to The Echo last month, Burwell said Sunderland AFC was the absolute priority for those figures and the clubs ownership.
"The reality is that the executives that sit in BSG are not as integrated into those other portfolio businesses in the same way that they are in Sunderland," he said.
"We in effect sit as an advisory board that supports the executives that deliver those individual businesses so in its current format, can we continue to operate a portfolio and basically be an executive board to those businesses? Absolutely. Is the most important business that sits within the company and sits within the portfolio of businesses that Juan and Kyril own, Sunderland Football Club? Absolutely it is and we recognise that not only from its relevance nationally, locally and globally but it's also its revenue, its valuation and also its opportunity.”
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