Lenore Sports Partners has valued Benfica at €299 million. The North American fund is trying to raise €49 million to buy the stake of José Antonio dos Santos, known as “Rey dos Frangos,” in the incarnation of SAD, Bloomberg reports.
Directly or indirectly through the Valouro Group, which he heads, José António dos Santos owns 16.38% of Benfica. Last December, he admitted to Record that “everything can be bought and everything can be sold, it all depends on the price,” when asked if he was still considering getting rid of his stake in the Eagles.
The “Chicken King” is one of the defendants in the “red card” case that led to the dismissal of Luis Filipe Vieira in July 2021. The authorities suspect that the businessman took advantage of confidential information passed on to the former Benfica president by his friend and business partner.
Just over three years ago, José António dos Santos reached an agreement with John Textor that, after acquiring the shares of other shareholders, including Vieira, he would sell 25% of Benfica for 50 million euros.
The deal with the North American businessman, which fell through despite him going to Lisbon to talk to the Red directors, valued Benfica at €200 million. If it is confirmed that Lenor will now pay €49 million for 16.38%, SAD will be valued at €299 million. An increase of 49.5% in three years.
Lenore’s main investors include Jean-Marc Chapus (who owns stakes in the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team and the English football club Norwich City), as well as Elliott Hayes and Omar Imtiaz (former shareholders of the French club Nice).
The 16.38% of Rei dos Frangos will give Lenora the opportunity to enter the SAD with the right to appoint an administrator and then seek to increase her participation in order to have a more active role in the management of professional football.
“Benfica is not aware of any initiative to buy shares in the club and no part of the quota belonging to Benfica will be sold,” he said. Morning mail official source of the reds.
The Chicken King’s position is valued at 1.8 million euros in a few hours
On Friday at 14:01, Benfica shares were worth 3.11 euros. After the Bloomberg news, they closed the session on the stock exchange at 3.6 euros. This means that José António dos Santos’ position increased by 1.85 million euros, from 11.71 million euros to 13.56 million euros. SAD’s total capitalization increased from 71.53 million euros to 82.8 million euros. An increase of 11.27 million euros in just a few hours.
Author: Joao Moniz
Source: CM Jornal
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