Ownership and finances of Paris Saint-Germain F.C.

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. was managed by Daniel Hechter and Francis Borelli before being purchased by French media company Canal+. The TV channel started buying shares in the club in 1991, but it wasn't until 1997 that they owned the majority. After June 2001, Canal+ obtained another 34% of the shares and then obtained the remaining 2% held by Alain Cayzac in August 2005, making them PSG's sole shareholder. On 11 April 2006, PSG was bought by a consortium comprising Colony Capital, Butler Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley.^[1] On 30 June 2009, Colony Capital acquired all the shares of Morgan Stanley, becoming owners of 95% of the club.^[2] On 31 May 2011, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Qatar Investment Authority bought a controlling 70% stake in the club from, now minority, shareholder Colony Capital, who retained 29% of the capital club.^[3] Butler Capital Partners maintained their 1% share of the club while Association PSG held one share.^[4]

Birth and split

On 23 May 1972, Paris Saint-Germain and Paris FC went separate ways.

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. was officially founded on 12 August 1970, by the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain. After 20,000 subscriptions from individuals desperate to see an elite football club in Paris, a group of local businessmen, led by Calberson CEO Guy Crescent and RCF Paris Vice-president Pierre-Étienne Guyot, asked the Stade Sangermanois directors to become part of their project. The creation of Paris Saint-Germain F.C. marked the reappearance of a major club in Paris after the decline of RCF Paris, Red Star, Stade Français and CA Paris.^[5] The publication of the financial results for the 1970-1971 season revealed 205.200 francs in losses and 1.776.950 francs of revenue.^[6] Like many other French clubs, PSG has to often deal with financial deficits. But thanks to the club's promotion to the first division the club was able to maintain stability. Success was immediate with PSG winning the Division 2 and celebrating its first birthday in the first division. The 1971-72 campaign was PSG's 1st season in Division 1. Promotion to France's top tier was welcomed by the City of Paris who offered to subsidize the club for four seasons under three conditions that they accepted: PSG had to remain D1 status, the club had to play at the Parc des Princes and two members of the Paris City Council had to be part of the Club's Board of Directors.

On 17 December 1971, Henri Patrelle regained the presidency of the club, but the season was marked by the split the Parisians and the Sangermanois in May 1972. On 21 December, the Paris City Council approved a motion to change the club's name to Paris Football Club. "If this new requirement is not accepted by the club, there will not be no subsidy and no Parc des Princes." Approved during holiday season, the motion was mediated after its publication. The Paris City Council demanded to the Sangermanois authorities to give a more "Parisien" name to the club and remove the reference to Saint-Germain in exchange for 800,000 francs. The latter refused to change the name and President Patrelle offered his resignation if the name remained unchanged, but the Paris City Council confirmed its position through a letter to the club on 12 April 1972: "If by any chance the members of your association refuse the appellation to change the name to Paris Football Club, or if the parent organizations oppose to this amendment, or even if your club does not maintain D1 status after this season, the repayment of the installments financed by our subsidy will be made with your club."^[7] It was a ultimatum to PSG, the Ligue and the French Football Federation with 1 July 1972 being the expiration date. On 16 May 1972, after a heated debate on the general assembly, it was proposed a vote on this issue. The tension was such that the votes had to be counted several times. The majority voted against changing the name.^[7] The Paris authorities, however, didn't gave up and decided to go their separate ways. Paris FC merged with CA Montreuil and remained in the first division, while Paris Saint-Germain assumed amateur status and continued life in the third division. On 23 May, France Football published a two-page dossier on the issue "Paris, where are you? Patrelle declares himself sickened".^[8] On 24 May 1972, the divorce was endorsed by the Board of Paris FC and initialed by Guyot, Crescent and Patrelle. The latter signed the agreement as "President of Paris Saint-Germain F.C.", while the two other signatories as "President and Vice-President of Paris FC". After the split was oficialized, Guyot and Crescent promised that Paris FC would be "a great team for the capital".^[9] PSG captain Jean Djorkaeff, however, showed his reticency and sadness towards the split:^[10]

“	It was good in Saint-Germain, we felt at home ... When we became Paris FC, we felt as lost children.	”
—Jean Djorkaeff, May 1972

Hechter and Borelli

Camp des Loges represents the team training facilities since 1974.

In the 1973-74 season, Daniel Hechter and his friends, including Jean-Paul Belmondo, Francis Borelli, Charles Talar and Bernard Brochand, in particular, were entering the scene. In May 1973, PSG received support from the designer Daniel Hechter and the latter ultimately became the President of the Management Committee, though Henri Patrelle retained the presidency. Before the start of the season, Hechter collaborated with the club to design an iconic shirt which would become a strong symbol of the club. It was composed of a blue shirt with a red central vertical bar framed by white edgings. The partnership between Patrelle and Hechter was fierce and did not last even a year. It began on 15 June 1973, with the sign of a protocol between PSG and Hechter. To avoid another case similar to that of Paris FC, the name (Paris Saint-Germain Football Club) and the club colours (blue, white, and red) became protected by contract. The headquarters of the club were transferred to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 29 avenue of Montardat Danes.

PSG then shocked everyone in France, when Hechter signed French footballing legend Just Fontaine to form a coaching duo with Vicot, and then paid Sedan a record 1.3m francs for Argelian star, Mustapha Dahleb. Although Patrelle was the President, Daniel Hechter, President of the Management Committee, played a major role at the club. And after the club regained top tier status it started looking for new financing, causing a conflict between the two men for the full control of PSG. On 9 June 1974, this caused Patrelle, who announced he was leaving the Presidency at the Town Hall of Saint-Germain, to made way for Daniel Hechter, and the club achieved professional status. On 4 November 1975, it was inaugurated the center of youth formation at the Camp des Loges. Pierre Alonzo took the direction of the center. That same year, the club brought to life again the Tournament of Paris.

During 1975–76, Robert Vicot quit the club and Fontaine became the sole coach. Vicot refused the club's offer to be in charge of the reserve team and recruitment, before leaving Paris. Fontaine continued his tenure at the capital club until the end of the season, when his relationship with Hechter deteriorated and had a disastrous end, with law suits and contractual disputes in the background. On 6 January 1978, following the scandal of double ticketing, Daniel Hechter was dismissed from his post as president by the FFF. On 8 January 1978, although the rivalry does not exist yet, Paris Saint-Germain recorded a stunning 5-1 victory over Marseille and crushed their title aspirations. Led by Carlos Bianchi and Mustapha Dahleb, PSG dedicated this match to their chairman Daniel Hechter, who was involved in a case of double ticketing at the Parc des Princes. On 9 January, as the case had become a scandal, Francis Borelli was elected president by the club committee.

During his thirteen years as head of the club, Paris Saint-Germain won its first major trophies: two Coupe de France and a Ligue 1 title. The image of Francis Borelli kissing the lawn of the Parc des Princes after Dominique Rocheteau's goal in the last seconds of the 1982 French Cup Final still remains in the memory of all fans. During the late 80's, Borelli defeated Jean-Luc Lagardère's Matra Racing, whose priority was to become the leading club in Paris. PSG was placed under tight control by the financial authorities and though they initially reduced the debts, the competition of Matra Racing forced the club to increase their budget, thus failing to pay off their debts between 1986 and 1990. Lagardère finally throwed the towel and Racing abandoned their professional status in June 1990 and left PSG with a ₣50M deficit.^[11] PSG retained their leadership in the capital, but in order to compete in the league against Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux, the club was in a urgent need of funds to cover their debts and investments. The poor performance, both sporting and financially, under President Borelli, saw PSG being bought by Canal + on 31 May 1991.

Canal+

As the economic and social lull of France took a stranglehold on French football, a shining light was to give reprieve for the ailing sport. Satellite firm, Canal +, invested huge amounts of money into the game with a pay per view TV deal, with Paris Saint-Germain receiving a whopping 40% of their income from televised games. Thanks to this money, PSG embarked on a spending spree, buying the best talent in France and the world. Players like David Ginola, Bernard Lama, Youri Djorkaeff, Raí, George Weah and Marco Simone all joined the club. The takeover of the club by Canal+ happened gradually. Canal+ started buying shares in the club in 1991, but it wasn't until 1997 that the TV channel owned the majority. After June 2001, Canal+ obtained another 34% of the shares, and in August 2005, they obtained the remaining 2% held by Alain Cayzac, making Canal+ Paris Saint-Germain's sole shareholder.^[12]

From 1991 to 1998, Paris Saint-Germain remained sound finances and expenditures of the club settled at around 50 million euros per season, taking advantage of the rise of power from football TV rights, doubling the number of spectators at the Parc des Princes as well as an excellent performance in national and European cups. Since the departure of Michel Denisot, the club has accumulated 96 million euros of debt in June 2002.^[13] The net debt fell to 8 million euros in June 2004 by recapitalizing the club. The day finances, however, stayed red. Thus, for the 2004-2005 season, the club told the DNCG the expenditure of 87.037 million euros for a deficit of 17.801 million euros and a turnover of 69 million euros. Numbers published by the DNCG, reported 20.823 million euros from ticketing, 13.793 million euros from sponsors, 31.270 million from TV rights, 2.371 million euros in grants and 1.117 million euros from merchandising. Excluding transfers, other income sources are less than one million euros. On the expenditure side, salaries for players and staff amounted to 40.655 million euros, with 9.012 in expenses. Other taxes totaled 5.806 million euros.^[14]

For the 2005-2006 season, Paris Saint-Germain was the only French club with a large deficit, totalling losses of 13.456 million euros. Despite the absence of the club in European cups, the actual turnover of the club was of 80.364 million euros (16% higher than the previous season). Numbers published by the DNCG, reported 19.179 million euros from ticketing (-8%), 17.440 million from sponsors (+21%), 34.331 million euros from TV rights (+9%), 2.357 million euros in grants (-1%) and 0.833 million euros from merchandising (-34%). On the expenditure side, salaries for players and staff amounted to 50.064 million euros (+19%) with 9.927 in expenses (+10%). Other taxes totaled 5.391 million euros (-8%).^[15]

Colony Capital and QIA

Canal+ announced the sale of the capital club to its new owners in 2006, a consortium comprising American investment company Colony Capital, French investment company, Butler Capital Partners, and American investment bank, Morgan Stanley. Paris Saint-Germain was sold for a reported €41M, although Canal+ initially requested €80M. Canal+ took responsibility for the debt run up by the club under its direction and called PSG's financial counters to zero. The sale became effective after Alain Cayzac replaced Pierre Blayau as President.^[1] PSG's budget for the 2006-07 season was estimated to be around €65M. Colony Capital acquired all the shares of Morgan Stanley in 2009, becoming owners of the 95% of the capital club.^[2] Since the beginning of its investment, Colony Capital worked diligently to improve the management of the Parisian institution. Over the last five years, it laid the groundwork, including a new successful training centre and reinvigorated the youth academy, from which to launch the club in its rightful place among Europe's leading clubs. And in parallel, tackled spectator experience in the Parc des Princes to give the stadium back to a broad family-based audience.^[3] PSG's actual turnover went from 77.720 million euros in 2006-07,^[16] to 73.497 million euros in 2007-08,^[17] and to 100.819 million euros in 2008-09.^[18] Numbers published by the DNCG, registered a continuous downfall in the club's deficit going from 18.975 million euros in 2006-07,^[16] to 12.282 million euros in 2007-08,^[17] and to 5.418 million euros in 2008-09.^[18]

Qatar Investment Authority officially became the majority shareholder of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, ending months of speculation about who the Ligue 1 outfit's new owners would be. Future Head of the Board, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, presented a five-year plan to take PSG to the top of the tree, in France and abroad. Qatar Investment Authority bought a controlling 70% stake in the club from, now minority, shareholder Colony Capital, who retained 29% of the capital club. Butler Capital Partners maintained their 1% share of the club while Association PSG held one share.^[4] The partners will work together to build on Colony Capital's achievements over the last five years in the club, to enhance its visibility and pre-eminence. Sébastien Bazin, chair of the club's supervisory board and head of Colony Capital in Europe, assured that with the new partner, Paris Saint-Germain would ensure their growth and long-term prospects.^[3] The sale was sought to be around €50M and included the absorption of losses from the 2010–11 season, estimated at €19M, and the club's debt rated between €15M and €20M.^[19] PSG's former owners, the American group Colony Capital, revealed back in December 2010 that they were looking for new investors and that search led them to Qatar Investment Authority, an investment arm of the Qatari government. Colony Capital had a controlling stake in PSG since 2006, but they passed on overall ownership to the Qatari group, though they remained 29% shareholders. The takeover came after Paris Saint-Germain finished fourth in Ligue 1 - their highest placing since 2004 - and reached the French Cup Final before losing to league champions Lille, though the capital club have struggled with hooligan problems off the pitch in recent years.^[3]

The Board

Director General President	Nasser Al-Khelaïfi
Assistant to the President	Nathalie Guibourgeau
Delegate Director General	Jean-Claude Blanc
General Manager	Phillipe Boindrieux
President of Amateur Section	Simon Tahar
Director of Football	Leonardo
Marketing Director	Michel Mimran
Ticketing Director	Alexandre Noé
Director of Supporter Relations	Jean-Philippe D'Hallivillée
Head of Events	Pierre-Octave Arrighi
Parc des Princes Technical Director	Arnaud Lescuyer
Legal Director	Romain Voillemot
Human Resources Director	Céline Viguier
Financial Director	Thomas Jacquemier
Director of Communications	Bruno Skropeta
Press Relations and Protocol	Katia Krzekowiak
Director of Recruitment	Alain Roche
Press Officer	Mathias Barbera
Academy Director	Bertrand Reuzeau

Source: Ligue 1

References

Specific

1. ^ ^{a b} "Paris Saint-Germain changes hands". BBC. 11 April 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4898746.stm. Retrieved 11 April 2006. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Colony Capital buy out Morgan Stanley". PSG.fr. 30 June 2009. http://www.psg.fr/en/news-filinfos/101001/not-found/45496/Colony-Capital-buy-out-Morgan-Stanley?p=1&monthSearch=06&yearSearch=2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Qatari group takes control of PSG". ESPNsoccernet. 31 May 2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/924844/qatari-group-takes-control-of-psg?cc=3888. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "PSG: 'We want the new Messi'". Ligue 1. 1 July 2011. http://www.ligue1.com/ligue1/article/psg-we-want-the-new-messi.htm. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
5. ^ France Football, N°1255 du 21 avril 1970, p.3, article pleine page intitulé Le Paris FC descendra dans la rue ! signé par le rédacteur en chef Max Urbini
6. ^ Paris Saint-Germain, N°1 de septembre 1971, p.12-13., PV de l'assemblée générale du club
7. ^ ^{a b} Paris Football Club, N°8 de juin 1972, p.19
8. ^ France Football, N°1364 du 23 mai 1972, p. 6-7
9. ^ Paris Football Club, N°8 de juin 1972, p.39, convention annexe au PV du 24 mai 1972
10. ^ France Football, N°1469, p.7.
11. ^ France Football, N°2356 du 4 juin 1991, p.36-37
12. ^ "Paris St-Germain: The Who, What, Where and How?". BigSoccer. 25 March 2005. http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181703. Retrieved 9 January 2010. 
13. ^ "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2003-2004". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/actualiteLFP/pdf/dncg/DNCG_2003-2004.pdf. Retrieved 29 September 2009. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2004-2005". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/actualiteLFP/pdf/dncg/DNCG_230206_1.pdf. Retrieved 29 September 2009. ^{[dead link]}
15. ^ "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2005-2006". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/telechargement/rapport_annuel_05_06/DNCG_05_06.pdf. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2006-2007". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/dncg/rapport.asp?saison=2006-2007. Retrieved 21 April 2010. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ ^{a b} "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2007-2008". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/dncg/rapport.asp?saison=2007-2008. Retrieved 21 April 2010. ^{[dead link]}
18. ^ ^{a b} "DNCG - bilan financier de la saison 2008-2009". LFP. http://www.lfp.fr/dncg/rapport.asp?saison=2008-2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Un fondo catarí compra el París Saint-Germain". Marca. 31 May 2011. http://www.marca.com/2011/05/31/futbol/futbol_internacional/liga_francesa/1306840897.html. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 

General

• Riolo, Daniel (2006). L'Histoire du Paris Saint-Germain. Hugo Sport. ISBN 2-7556-0115-9. 
• Albert, Rodolphe (2006). Les secrets du PSG. Éditions Privé. ISBN 2-35076-028-6. 
• Bouchard, Jean-Philippe (2000). Le roman noir du PSG, de Canal+ à Canal-. Calman-Lévy. ISBN 2-7021-3107-7. 
• Berthou, Thierry (1998). Histoire du Paris Saint-Germain Football-Club (1904–1998). Pages de Foot. ISBN 2-913146-00-7. 
• Basse, Pierre-Louis (1995). PSG, histoires secrètes (1991–1995). Solar. ISBN 2-263-02317-8. 
• Dautrepuis, Anne; Gilles Verdez (1998). PSG, nouvelles histoires secrètes (1995–1998). Solar. ISBN 2-263-02653-3. 
• Hechter, Daniel (1979). Le football business. Ramsay. ISBN 2-85956-118-8. 
• Chevit, Frédéric; Olivier Rey (1977). Le roman vrai du Paris SG. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-00520-6. 

External links

Official Websites

• (French) (English) PSG.fr
• (French) (English) Paris Saint-Germain at Ligue 1
• (French) (English) Paris Saint-Germain at UEFA

News Sites

• (French) Paris Saint-Germain News from Le Parisien
• (French) Paris Saint-Germain News from L'Equipe
• (English) Paris Saint-Germain News from Sky Sports
• (English) Paris Saint-Germain News from ESPN

Preceded by Real Zaragoza

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winner 1996 Runner up: Rapid Vienna

Succeeded by Barcelona