Entrepreneur Lars Windhorst confirmed previously unreleased details of his recent sale, his majority stake in football club Hertha BSC, during a court hearing in London. picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau
Entrepreneur Lars Windhorst has had to deal with a number of bankruptcies in his life. Now the 45-year-old was on trial in London – because of his recent sale, his majority stake in the Hertha BSC football club.
The US private equity group 777 Partners paid him less than 15 million euros – a loss for Windhorst, who has invested around 374 million euros in the club.
Windhorst explained, among other things, that the investment company had not yet paid the entire 15 million euros. In addition, he could not remember how much had been received so far.
At the age of 45, the entrepreneur Lars Windhorst has already had two bankruptcies and one personal bankruptcy – and yet he always gets back up after his failures. He was recently involved in a court hearing in London, in which he was cross-examined because of his majority stake in the Hertha Berlin football club. This was reported, among other things, by „Financial Times“.
Windhorst originally invested 374 million euros in the club. The US private equity group 777 Partners paid him less than 15 million euros upfront to buy his stake – a huge financial loss for the entrepreneur.
Windhorst made these agreements with the investment company 777 Partners
During the hearing, Windhorst said he had sold Hertha for around €65m, offset against a €50m loan previously provided by 777 Partners. Part of the deal is also a “performance-based” payment of up to 35 million euros, which could become due in the future. The agreement was agreed between one of Windhorst’s Dutch investment companies and a Belgian company from 777.
Windhorst also stated that the private equity group had not yet paid the full 15 million euros. In addition, he could not remember how much had been received so far. He disagreed with the attorney’s statement that 777 had defaulted on the agreement. “From my point of view, there was no default in payment,” Windhorst said in court. He had agreed to defer part of the payment and to receive a “three-digit” million amount from the sale in the future.
The plaintiff’s lawyer asked Windhorst how that was possible when the deal was for a maximum of €35m more and even that payment was made conditional on Hertha Berlin – who were recently relegated – finishing first in the German Bundesliga. Windhorst countered that he was “not up to speed” on the details of the deal, noting that he “personally conducts many transactions.” 777 declined to comment.
Windhorst first took a stake in Hertha BSC in 2019
Windhorst first invested in Hertha BSC in 2019, at a time when he was still receiving large subsidies from French H2O Asset Management. He promised big investments to turn the ailing team into a “big city club”. But even after Windhorst’s spending spree and the Financial Times’ revelation last September that he had hired an Israeli intelligence agency to organize a campaign to oust club president Werner Gegenbauer, his tenure as owner was overshadowed.
Many fans were outraged. Windhorst initially dismissed the story as “nonsense”, but an investigation commissioned by Hertha Berlin revealed bills related to the campaign were paid from one of his bank accounts.
In November he finalized the deal to sell Hertha Berlin to 777. The investment company’s strategy is to buy lower-league football clubs, including Paris-based Red Star FC, Rio club Vasco da Gama and Italy’s Genoa FC. Earlier this week, the financier was handed a €150m freeze order by the London High Court in relation to a separate creditor claim.
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