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Two letters reveal what Josef Bieri accuses his fellow shareholder Bernhard Alpstaeg of.
Carlo Emanuele FrezzaReporter football
The power struggle at FC Luzern is highly complex. The explosive figures in the shareholder dispute have long since become the subject of legal disputes. So far not much has been made public. Until now.
Blick has two letters addressed to the majority shareholder Bernhard Alpstaeg by the lawyers of the minority shareholder Josef Bieri. Two letters in which Bieri made it clear why she did not agree with Alpstaeg’s business practices. The first dates from November 24th – a good month before the ordinary general meeting of FCL Holding AG in the Wirtschaft zum Schützenhaus.
“A loss of 32.8 million francs”
In this document, the lawyers calculate on behalf of the management of FCL Holding AG what will happen if Alpstaeg becomes sole ruler. First and foremost, the termination of the loan agreements of the former shareholders Samih Sawiris, Schmid Holding AG and Marco Sieber are mentioned, which resulted in a loss of CHF 2,178,648. “Should Bieri also demand the repayment of his loan, this amount would increase to CHF 2,806,449.” For this reason, Bieri calls on his fellow shareholder Alpstaeg to make the amount available from his own pocket as quickly as possible.
Alpstaeg is also informed that “numerous commercial partners or customers with an annual turnover of CHF 1,061,813 have either already terminated their business relationship or “put it on hold”.
Alpstaeg’s “unspeakable behavior” would cause further financial damage in terms of viewership. “Currently, the management expects a decrease to 6000 spectators (compared to 9364 spectators in the pre-Covid-19 season 2018/19). This means that the FCL will have less revenue from tickets of around CHF 1.3 million per year. » The bottom line is that the Bieri side expects a total loss of CHF 32.8 million over the next three years as a result of the allegations mentioned in the letter.
The second letter is even longer than the first
Alpstaeg has now taken a close look at precisely these figures. And he turns the tables. “The letter says that I am to blame for the additional costs and lost income totaling 5 to 8 million. But the board of directors put the whole financial hole at 32.8 million. So he himself is to blame for a deficit of 24.8 to 27.8 million. If this huge financial hole cannot be plugged quickly and sustainably, then this will be the death of the FCL.”
The Bieri site won’t let the whole thing sit on its own. “The calculations are well thought out and we still stand by them,” she says. The same applies to the second letter that Blick has. This comes from the law firm Niederer Kraft Frey (NKF) and is dated November 30th. NKF turns to Bernhard Alpstaeg’s lawyers on 17 points.
The law firm made it clear several times that it was “interested in a quick, constructive solution”. Among other things, she proposes two dates for a meeting to Alpstaeg. However, this did not happen because Alpstaeg felt betrayed at the previous meeting on October 31st, which took place a few days before the postponed extraordinary general meeting of FCL Holding AG.
That evening, Alpstaeg offered his fellow shareholders that he could appoint two board members with his 48 percent stake in FCL Holding AG and that Alpstaeg, with his 52 percent stake, would sit on the board with three members. But Bieri refused. Two days later, the extraordinary general meeting was postponed because of the “precautionary measures”.
Is Bieri selling his entire share package?
Back to letter of November 30th. Under point 5, Bieri’s lawyers emphasize that he is not prepared “to carry on the serious sporting and financial uncertainties caused by the unrest of the last two months”. One can already announce that “if no solution is found, Mr. Bieri will no longer make any further financial contributions”.
A few paragraphs later, NKF Alpstaeg reminds that “in February 2021, Mr. Bieri made a reorganization contribution of 3.6 million francs on the basis that Mr. Alpstaeg no longer interferes operationally in the business and does not cause any further reputational damage to the FCL ». But that’s exactly what happened, the law firm emphasizes.
As a result of this step, the value of Josef Bieri’s block of shares has also fallen massively. “Due to these incidents, it is also not possible for him to place the shares with interested investors as planned.” Because a sale is necessary in order to achieve a broad-based shareholder base.
For the Alpstaeg side, however, this statement makes it clear that Bieri is talking about selling his entire share package. “The second largest shareholder next to me, Josef Bieri, had his lawyer explain to me in writing that he wanted to sell his shares,” says Alpstaeg.
Credit Suisse Super League
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