The following statement was released on Companies House today by Eagle Football Holdings Bidco’s administrators Cork Gully LLP

Proposals: Eagle Football Holdings Bidco

Overview

Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited (Companies House number 14385313), the English-incorporated intermediate holding company at the heart of John Textor’s multi-club football empire, entered administration on 27 March 2026. Stephen Cork and Anthony Cork of Cork Gully LLP were appointed Joint Administrators by Ares Capital Corporation, acting as Security Agent for the secured noteholders under a Notes Purchase Agreement originally dated 25 October 2022. The appointment was made pursuant to a qualifying floating charge and sealed by the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts (court reference CR-2026-2493).

This document constitutes the Joint Administrators’ formal Statement of Proposals, deemed delivered to creditors on 22 May 2026.

Ares Capital Corporation instigated administration

The single most significant fact in this document is the identity of the appointing party. Ares Capital Corporation, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers and a major force in private credit, initiated this administration as Security Agent for the noteholders. The appointment followed a breakdown in relations between Ares and John Textor over governance, funding requirements and board composition, against a backdrop of acute financial and regulatory pressures at Olympique Lyonnais. 

This is not a passive lender enforcing security reluctantly; the chronology makes clear that Ares drove the process from at least 2 March 2026, when Cork Gully was formally engaged to contemplate appointment. Pre-appointment fees alone, Cork Gully’s time costs of £389,724, CMS legal fees of £343,972, and communications firm Comarco at £30,926, confirm a carefully planned enforcement action.

Bank Accounts frozen in January 2026

The Proposals confirm that the Company’s bank accounts were frozen in January 2026, two months before formal administration, as a direct consequence of the dispute between Ares and Textor. 

This effectively paralysed the entity, materially impairing its ability to operate and pay creditors. The frozen accounts, containing funds of €3,296, £49,259 and $71,198,  were transferred to the Administration accounts upon appointment. A further $950,000 held in a blocked account at a payment institution remains under legal dispute, with Ares claiming it constitutes financial collateral under their fixed charge. This is material: it demonstrates that the entity was functionally insolvent well before the formal insolvency date.

Textor has not cooperated

The Proposals note that two directors were asked to prepare a Statement of Affairs as at 27 March 2026. Only one, Robin James Mostyn Pugh, appointed as recently as 4 February 2026, responded. 

John Charles Textor, the founder and controlling shareholder, has provided no response to the Joint Administrators’ enquiries. Textor’s non-cooperation is explicitly flagged. This is significant both for the ongoing director conduct investigation (which the Administrators are statutorily required to pursue) and for creditors seeking to understand the full picture of the Company’s affairs. 

The Administrators have confirmed that investigations are ongoing and creditors will be updated in future reports.

Crystal Palace

The document confirms that the Company sold its stake in Crystal Palace Football Club in July 2025, prior to the administration appointment. This is an important piece of context: by the time administration commenced, the UK club had already been exited from the Eagle Football structure, leaving three remaining investments, Olympique Lyonnais (via Eagle Football Group SA), SAF Botafogo in Brazil, and RWDM Brussels in Belgium.

Sales process Is live and contested

The Joint Administrators are conducting an accelerated sales process across all three remaining investments. An FT advertisement was placed on 10 April 2026. 

More than 50 parties were approached, generating significant inbound interest, though a material proportion did not progress beyond preliminary discussions. The Administrators are exploring both a combined sale and individual asset disposals. Crucially, the Administrators were not appointed over the football clubs themselves, only over Bidco, meaning they are working with the management teams of OL and RWDM Brussels to facilitate data room access.

SAF Botafogo’s position is further complicated by a purported second-ranking security interest over those shares, currently under investigation. No completion of any sale has been announced; the process remains ongoing as at the date of these Proposals.

Ares Is Owed US$ 547 Million, and may not recover in full

The creditor schedule sets out Ares Capital Corporation’s claim as US$ 547,372,900, secured by ten charges registered between December 2022 and December 2025, covering fixed and floating charges, share pledges, securities account pledges, supplemental debentures, and a receivables pledge agreement. 

The Statement of Affairs values all three club investments as “Uncertain” in terms of realisable value. The Administrators estimate that realisations may be sufficient to make a distribution to Ares as secured creditor, but neither the amount nor timing can be confirmed. 

There is a structural shortfall of £411,731,710 to the floating charge holder on current estimates, before any recovery on the club shareholdings is factored in.

Unsecured creditors face total wipe out

Unsecured non-preferential creditors are estimated at approximately £74.9 million. 

The Administrators are unequivocal: they do not anticipate sufficient realisations to make any distribution to unsecured creditors. The prescribed part, the statutory carve-out from floating charge realisations for the benefit of unsecured creditors under section 176A of the Insolvency Act 1986,  is expected to be nil, because the costs of realisation are anticipated to extinguish the floating charge assets entirely. 

No creditors’ vote on the Proposals has been convened, as the Administrators deem it inappropriate given the absence of any prospect of unsecured distribution. The Proposals are therefore deemed approved automatically under Rule 3.38(4) of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, unless creditors holding at least 10% of total debt requisition a formal decision procedure within eight business days of delivery.

Inter-company balances are a complex, unresolved liability

The document contains a significant disclosure regarding intercompany balances. 

The Company has both amounts owed to it and amounts owed by it across multiple group entities, arising under a variety of contractual arrangements across several jurisdictions. Some of these balances are subject to ongoing legal proceedings. 

The Administrators are investigating the validity, enforceability and recoverability of these balances, including the impact of applicable security interests, subordination arrangements, set-off rights and competing claims. 

No amounts has been attributed. Given the scale of Eagle Football Group’s complex, multi-jurisdictional structure, these balances could be material in either direction.

Administration funding agreement, Ares are funding the administration  

The Administration is being funded through an Administration Funding Agreement between the Administrators, a group of AFA lenders, and Ares as security agent. 

Under the AFA, the lenders are covering pre-appointment costs and ongoing administration expenses. 

Fixed charge receipts in the period 27 March to 19 May 2026 total £6,204,034, almost entirely AFA funding drawn down, not club asset realisations. 

Total costs incurred in the same period reached £4,086,065, leaving a balance of £2,223,517. Legal fees alone, at £1,411,417 incurred against a total estimate of £2,310,293, represent the single largest cost category. 

This structure means Ares is effectively controlling the pace and cost of the process, with repayment obligations that do not prejudice creditor priorities under the statutory waterfall.

The simplified group structure disclosed in the Proposals is instructive. At the head sits Eagle Football Holdings Limited, in which John Charles Textor holds 64.1%, Iconic Sports Eagle Investment LLC 16.4%, and other shareholders 19.5%. 

Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited,  the entity in administration, sits two levels below as a wholly-owned subsidiary, holding:

•  87.7% of Eagle Football Group SA (the OL parent), 
• 90% of SAF Botafogo, and 
• 99.5% of Racing White Daring Molenbeek Future NV (RWDM Brussels). 

The Bidco structure was itself incorporated on 29 September 2022, the same month as the original Notes Purchase Agreement, indicating it was purpose-built as the debt vehicle for the Ares financing.

The director history is notable. Textor resigned as a director on 27 January 2026, was re-appointed on 29 January 2026, and remained a director at the date of administration. The pattern of rapid senior management changes throughout 2025, four directors departing between October and January, is consistent with the governance dispute described in the document.

Outstanding matters

The Administration faces three principal areas of unresolved risk. 

First, the club asset sales process is subject to regulatory approval requirements in France, Brazil and Belgium, each of which operates on its own timeline and may impose conditions on prospective purchasers. 

Second, the intercompany balance investigation is at an early stage; material claims in either direction could shift the outcome for secured creditors. 

Third, the director conduct investigation, particularly in respect of Textor’s non-cooperation, may result in further proceedings but the timeline and outcome are uncertain.

The Administration is expected to close within 12 months. The anticipated exit route is dissolution under paragraph 84 of Schedule B1, with no return to unsecured creditors. The Company’s expected fate is dissolution rather than liquidation, on the basis that realisations will be insufficient to justify the additional costs of a formal winding-up process.