Lorenzo Sanz - Negotiations With Parma

Negotiations With Parma

Between June 2005 and January 2006, Sanz was negotiating with Parma Football Club in Amministrazione Straordinaria to become the club's new owner. Guido Angiolini and Enrico Bondi, the two officers appointed by the Italian government to restore Parma, and its main sponsor Parmalat, were the two persons involved in the operations with Sanz. The first time Parma announced negotiations with Sanz was in August 2005. Both President Guido Angiolini and government-appointed administrator Enrico Bondi asked for €27.5 million, but the negotiations were not as smooth as some predicted.

Until January 2006, the Sanz family was still transacting business with Bondi and Angiolini, but to no avail. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport in January 2006, President Angiolini stated that, "If, by the 16th, the deal with the Sanz family has not been closed, we will set about finding a new buyer." Sanz has seemed the most likely buyer of the club since last August when he made an initial payment of €7.5 million ($9.07 million) on the full price of €27.5 million. However, he has not yet paid the outstanding €20 million. Parma administrators stated that after 16 January 2006, the club is free to find other interested buyers as the contract with Sanz expired on 15 January 2006. Other interested buyers include the owner of Spain's Alamak Espana Trade, Russian oligarch Abram Reznikov. The uncertainty over the club's future has become a source of increasing frustration for Parma supporters. The deal with Sanz was a big dilemma for Parma supporters. In some papers, this deal was referred to as "The never ending story." Parma supporters were longing for a positive ending. Sanz visited Parma a couple of times, and he even turned up at the Stadio Ennio Tardini to follow some of Parma's matches in Serie A. Because of his withdrawal from the deal and failure to pay the rest of the sum of €20.5 million, Lorenzo Sanz Senior and Lorenzo Sanz Junior lost much of their credibility.