Thairo Arruda, CEO of Botafogo, waited two years to refute a statement by Mario Celso Petraglia, president of Athletico.
In 2022, at a time when Football Societies (SAFs) were being established in Brazilian football at clubs such as Cruzeiro, Botafogo and Vasco, Petraglia fired against the values of the time.
“What we are currently seeing are clubs handing themselves over to investors for absurdly low prices. It’s the price of a player. I have several proposals, but I’m going to make an assessment, I want to know how much we’re worth. We have a model that interests us in the best way possible. way, but let’s see how the market reacts”, said the Furacão strongman.
The answer came in 2024. After Botafogo’s Brasileirão and Libertadores titles and Athletico’s relegation, Arruda made a point of remembering the criticism.
“You know when you keep quiet and wait for time to decide for us? I held firm, but now I needed to rescue. Here’s a tip: the dowry doesn’t matter, what matters is who you’re going to marry”, countered the black and white leader.
It is worth remembering that Botafogo’s SAF was made official in March 2022. North American businessman John Textor purchased 90% of the club’s shares for R$400 million.
SAF do Athletico
Petraglia even said that Athletico is “the most beautiful bride on the Brazilian market”.
However, the sale of Athletico’s SAF is still some way off. The club’s management preaches calm and says that it is “not desperate”, despite pointing out, in an apology to the fans, that the SAFs brought “financial imbalance”.
Furthermore, the work demands exclusive dedication from the president Mario Celso Petraglia. The information was given by journalist Augusto Mafuz, columnist for UmDois Esportes, on the Carneiro&Mafuz podcast at the end of September.
Athletico: interested party is known for buying up companies in crisis
According to Mafuz, the main interested party would be Nelson Tanure’s group, the Bordeaux Fund.
A Bordeaux Investment Fundfrom São Paulo, is a group nationally recognized for high-value investments.
Bordeaux stood out in the state when it won, for R$ 133.8 million, Sercomtel, a telecommunications company from Londrina.
However, the even bigger deal was the purchase of the former Copel Telecom, which was renamed Ligga. In 2020, the Bordeaux Fund purchased Copel for R$2.3 billion. The value represented a premium of 70.94% in relation to the minimum sale value at auction, set at R$1.4 billion.
In addition to businessman Nelson Tanure, who is a strong name, the company also has Hélio Costa.
As Mafuz said on the podcast, Costa is a former Globo reporter and became “the face of Fantástico”. Furthermore, he also stood out for having served as former Minister of Telecommunications between 2005 and 2010, during the first government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Furthermore, Tanure’s main brand is obtaining companies that must undergo reformulation, that is, they are in difficulties or during some type of crisis. This is the case with Athletico, especially after relegation.
Tanure has a varied portfolio of companies, as it has invested in diversified segments, ranging from TIM to the oil and gas producer Prio (PRIO3), or the developer Gafisa (GFSA3). With a low profile, there are few photos of the investor and practically no official statements.
In the case of Athletico football, president Mário Celso Petraglia sees that the sale of SAF is the only way to increase values in the football department.