His visit did not go unnoticed. Roman Dubov, a Russian billionaire, came to attend, Sunday, November 28, the match between Saint-Etienne and PSG (1-3), in the enclosure of the Greens. A visit that launched, like wildfire, rumors about the potential takeover of ASSE by Roman Dubov. He even went to visit the facilities of the Robert-Herbin sports center after the match.
If for the moment, no announcement has been made in this direction by the club, its presence at the stadium has greatly intrigued. Franceinfo: sport looks back at the three things to know about this possible investor.
Russian billionaire, based in London
Roman Dubov is a billionaire, “native of Székesfehérvar, in central Hungary”, but of Russian nationality, indicates the newspaper L’Equipe in its edition of November 29, which investigated this possible new character of the French scene of the round ball.
Total Sports Investments President Roman Dubov attended #ASSEPSG, before going to visit the facilities of the Robert-Herbin sports center
With the intention of redeeming the#ASSE, TSI has already sent a letter of intent to KPMG, and its willingness to inject € 100M.@team pic.twitter.com/uvuvbmrYJb
– ActuSainté (@actusainte) November 28, 2021
Based in London for several years, he is the president of Total Sports Investments since 2010, a sports promotion company investing in various disciplines such as ice hockey, rallying, basketball, golf and football.
Already an experience in club redemption
Becoming the new owner of the Saint-Etienne club would not be a discovery for Roman Dubov. Indeed, in 2011, the billionaire acquired the Portsmouth club (southern England), at the time in the Championship, the equivalent of the English L2.
But the experience was hardly positive. “Eight months later, ‘Pompey’ was placed in receivership and penalized with ten withdrawal points. Before finishing in D4 and being bought by his fans in 2013 “, writing The team.
A repurchase file examined by KPMG
Still according to the sports daily, this failed redemption affair does not seem to slow down KPMG, the audit and management firm responsible for examining applications for the takeover of the Saint-Etienne club.
“Not long ago, Total Sports Investments sent him a letter of intent by email in which it expressed its desire to inject 100 million euros into the Saint-Etienne club. A sum including the redemption of the shares and the injection of funds into the club’s current account. That is to say much more than the offers of Markarian and especially of Roussier, rebutted at the beginning of the week “, indicated The team.