QSI Finalizes Paris Saint-Germain Takeover

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) has acquired the final 30 per cent stake in football club Paris Saint-Germain, making the French Ligue 1 leaders wholly-owned by their Qatari investors.

The US investment fund Colony Capital sold its 30 percent stake in the football club, a company source said. 

The source said that the sale “was envisaged from the start” and comes after QSI had already bought 70 percent of Colony’s controlling stake in PSG a little less than a year ago.

Under the terms of the deal, Colony held an option to sell its remaining stake that it could exercise at any moment, the source added.

The financial news site Wansquare earlier said that the transfer price of the balance of Colony’s shares puts the club’s overall value at 100 million euros ($132 million) or 30 percent more than the price QSI paid last year to take control.

Colony said it would not be commenting when contacted by AFP.

PSG finished fourth in France last season, just missing out on the Champions League football tournament but securing a place in the Europa League.

They were also beaten by double-winners Lille in the French Cup final.

The cash-rich Qataris, headed by Nasser Al-Khelaifi who is also president of Doha-based Al Jazeera television, have set out plans for the French giants to challenge for the title in France as well as in Europe.

Al-Khelaifi was quoted as saying by Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Tuesday that he expected to invest 100 million euros on the transfer market in the years to come to build a strong team.

The figure was “normal for a top-ranking club” he said, adding: “We prefer to invest a lot and immediately. We will spend this amount for the next five or six years then the investments will slow.”

Among the big-money signings since QSI took over has been Argentina’s Javier Pastore, who was bought last year from Palermo for 42 million euros.

by Ismail Uddin