Ex-owner of Adidas Said He Is 'Ruined'


12/04/2015

The French businessman Bernard Tapie is "absolutely ruined" after the court compelled him to reimburse € 404 million to the consortium of Credit Lyonnais. This he said in an interview with Le Monde



JJ Georges
French businessman Bernard Tapie, former owner of Adidas and Football Club "Olympique de Marseille", said he was "absolutely ruined" by the decision of the French court, which compelled him to reimburse € 404 million to the consortium running the bank Credit Lyonnais. This Tapie said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde.

On the question of whether he can pay the amount of € 404 million, Tapie replied in the negative, noting that the authorities have to accept his personal bankruptcy and to sell all the property that he has - the house he bought 28 years ago (elite real estate in Paris).

At the time, Tapie said that "if they (the authorities) want war - they will get it." Earlier Tapie's lawyer Emmanuel Gaillard said that his client will submit another appeal against the judgment in the Supreme Arbitration Court.

The financial consortium of the bank Credit Lyonnais was created in 1993 when Tapie sold the company Adidas belonging to him at the time. After the transaction, Tapie accused the state bank in fraud and demanded redress, the amount of which was later estimated at € 404 million.

In 2013, the consortium appealed the decision on which was finally issued in February. December 3, the Court of Appeal of Paris rejected Tapie’s complaint.

Bernard Tapie was a major French businessman started in the 1990s. The most famous of his assets were the company Adidas and Football Club "Olympique de Marseille", one of the flagships of European football in that period. In 1993, "Olympique" was accused of involvement in match fixing, and Tapie was sentenced to two years in prison.