Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has apologised to Sunderland fans 'who felt misled' over the ownership of the club - and admits he 'misjudged the sensitivity' of the issue. Chairman Louis-Dreyfus met representatives of Sunderland's supporters' collective last week to address fans' concerns following the recent revelation that he owns less than half of the shares in the club.
When he bought into the club, it was announced that he had bought a 'controlling interest' and supporters had understood to mean that he therefore owned more than 50 percent of the club. In fact, he is merely the largest single shareholder in the club with a 41 percent stake.
And the three members of the Madrox consortium - Stewart Donald, Charlie Methven, and Juan Sartori - collectively retain the remaining 59 percent. In Louis-Dreyfus' first year at Sunderland neither he nor the club made any attempt to correct the record when he was variously described as the 'new owner' or 'majority shareholder', and instead insisted that the exact breakdown of who owned how many shares was subject to a non-disclosure agreement.
But last month the club was forced to admit that Louis-Dreyfus owned 41 percent, with Donald owning 34 percent, Sartori 20 percent and Methven the remaining five percent. Sunderland chief operating officer Steve Davison moved quickly to make it clear that, despite the size of Louis-Dreyfus' stake, the shareholders' agreement makes it clear that the Swiss has complete control over the day-to-day running of the club.
But fans still wanted answers, and they met Louis-Dreyfus last week. The minutes reveal that Louis-Dreyfus 'apologised to fans who felt misled and thinks he may have misjudged the sensitivity of the issue. It was never the intention to mislead.'
They continued with Louis-Dreyfus saying that over the last year he has been 'focusing on the task in hand and will communicate more with fans in the future.' Supporters asked why Louis-Dreyfus did not purchase 51 percent or more of the club when he arrived in February last year, and the minutes said: 'A variety of different shareholdings were discussed but an acceptable commercial deal was found at 41 percent for all parties.
'[Louis-Dreyfus] wanted the club and was prepared to compromise on the shareholding size but not on control of SAFC. 'There have been discussions with Stewart Donald about increasing [Louis-Dreyfus'] shareholding, but to date it hasn't been possible to agree a deal.'
Louis-Dreyfus also said he is willing to allow another investor to buy into the club, but he will not give up control. The minutes said: 'If a credible buyer with sizeable funds capable of passing the EFL's Owners' and Directors' Test and who agrees with the vision of the club, wishes to buy shares in the club, [Louis-Dreyfus] would be happy for another party to invest, but will not relinquish control.'
Sunderland fans have made it clear that they want Donald and Methven to sell their shares and leave the club, and the supporters' collective reiterated that message. According to the minutes, Louis-Dreyfus opted for a diplomatic response saying 'he is very focused on the running of the club and not conducting his business in public; there are more important things to deal with.
'[Louis-Dreyfus] confirmed he makes all decisions at the club regarding on or off-the-field appointments and investment. Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven have funded the club when required but [Louis-Dreyfus] has control on governance.
'Ownership should be discussed at the end of the season.' The supporters' collective also underlined the firm belief that, when they depart, Donald and Methven should return the full balance of the parachute money that they took out of the club.
The minutes said Louis-Dreyfus 'has seen no legal agreement to repay the money although is aware that Stewart Donald told fan groups that he will repay the money. 'The parachute payments were written off before [Louis-Dreyfus] took over although there is a verbal commitment to the fans to repay it.
'There is no debt attached to the club concerning the parachute payments, a new investor would not take on such a liability.' While Donald and Methven are expected to sell their stakes in Sunderland at some stage, the Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori families are long-standing friends and as such Juan Sartori - who is involved in politics in Uruguay - is expected to retain his shares.
The minutes said 'It was advised that Juan intends to work with [Louis-Dreyfus] to bring the club back to the Premier League and while he [Sartori] is busy with politics, remains committed to the club.' Louis-Dreyfus also spoke about the decision to sack head coach Lee Johnson at the end of January, and bring in Alex Neil as his replacement.
The minutes said '[Louis-Dreyfus] confirmed the main objective is to be promoted at the end of the season. It would have been easier and cheaper to keep the previous head coach and [he] believes that the new head coach gives the club a better chance for promotion.'
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