The crowdfunding campaign launched on March 8 by the Nantes Collective has certainly caused a lot of talk but has, in the end, attracted relatively few investors. Tuesday evening, when the operation closed, a total of 259,000 euros had been collected. Some 1,728 subscribers participated for a minimum commitment of 100 euros.
Not so bad in absolute terms but far, very far, from the initial objective set at 8 million euros to prepare for the takeover of FC Nantes in the event of sale by the current owner, Waldemar Kita. Also far from the 12,000 signatures that had been collected by the petition in support of the project.
“The adventure has only just begun”
The consortium, embodied by the former international Mickaël Landreau and Philippe Plantive, director of the company Proginov, does not qualify the approach as a failure but, on the contrary, as a “collective success” with regard to the emulation that this openness to the audience aroused. “We would like to thank you warmly for the enthusiasm you have shown, your support is essential to the success of the project”, reacted the Nantes Collectivewelcoming in particular the initiatives of supporters’ clubs and adding “the adventure has only just begun”.
In April, the Nantes Collective claimed to have already raised a sum of 7.5 million euros from investors. The estimated amount needed to buy FC Nantes is in the tens of millions of euros.