FC Nantes sale: Waldemar Kita confirms Ligue 2 takeover offers

Waldemar Kita has confirmed that a sale of FC Nantes is a genuine possibility, ending months of speculation around the future of the club’s owner. In an interview with Presse-Océan, Kita said he had received three proposals to take over the Canaris. He also made clear that none of the approaches has reached a stage where his departure can be announced.

“I have always said that if there are proposals, we will sit around a table and discuss them,” Kita said. “If it has to happen, I will try to do everything so that it goes well. But nothing is done, nothing is serious.” His comments open the door to a change of ownership while preserving the uncertainty that has surrounded previous attempts to sell the club.

Kita, who has owned Nantes since 2007, did not identify the potential buyers. Confidentiality clauses prevent him from giving details, and he rejected claims that the proposals came from British investment funds. The existence of three offers is therefore confirmed, but their financial structure, the identities of the interested parties and the timetable for any transaction remain undisclosed.

The 73-year-old businessman presented the issue as both a sporting and personal decision. As he enters his 20th year at the club, he said he was asking serious questions about his own suitability for football. “Something is not working,” he said, adding that he might not be made for the role and that his passion for the club may have gone too far. He acknowledged that, despite his success in business, the results in football have led him to conduct his own criticism.

That assessment comes after a sharp change in Nantes’ recent sporting fortunes. The club won the Coupe de France in 2022 and later experienced European football, but it has now dropped into Ligue 2. Kita said the difficult seasons had left him tired, while also suggesting that his involvement had reduced involuntarily since the collapse of the YellowPark stadium project.

The proposed new stadium remains a central part of his explanation for the club’s direction. Kita said Nantes had developed what he considered a major project and that he had spent millions on it, but that the plan was blocked. He argued that the absence of a modern stadium had limited the club’s ability to develop. He also claimed the city would have earned €20 million from the sale of land linked to the project, although the YellowPark plan ultimately did not proceed.

A change of owner would be welcomed by a section of the Nantes support. The Brigade Loire ultras have repeatedly called for the departure of Kita and his son Franck, who is involved in the club’s management. Kita recognised that many people would be pleased if he left, while saying that a new owner could bring a different vision and fresh energy. His comments amount to an acknowledgement of the distance that has grown between the ownership and parts of the fan base.

The three proposals must still pass a demanding test. Kita said a buyer would need to offer more than the ability to purchase the club: the future owner must also demonstrate how Nantes could be operated. Several previous sale processes reportedly advanced without producing an agreement, with issues including insufficient bank guarantees and a change of mind by the owner. The size of any offer will matter, but reported claims of a €100 million sale are not considered realistic.

Kita is not setting a deadline. He said he would not be concerned if the process took one or two months, or even a year, because his priority was to ensure that any transfer was handled properly. For now, he remains in control of Nantes as the club prepares for life in Ligue 2. The immediate development is therefore not a completed sale, but the clearest confirmation yet that the ownership could change after nearly two decades.