Ronaldo advances in the sale of SAF do Cruzeiro to the owner of a supermarket chain in Minas

The Football Anonymous Society (SAF) of cruise is close to having a new majority shareholder. Ronaldo Fenômeno is in advanced talks to sell its share of the shares to Pedro Lourençoowner of BH Supermarkets and advisor to the Minas Gerais club. The information was published by the local newspaper On Attack and confirmed by Estadão.

O Estadão also found that the deal should be completed in the next few days and should not cost less than R$500 million. One of the complications of the operation is a clause that prevents Ronaldo from selling SAF to a third party in less than 60 months or until he fulfills the additional investment of R$350 million, whether through his own investments or incremental revenue. Both scenarios are not close to materializing. The contract also provides that Cruzeiro itself will have priority in purchasing the club’s football shares.

In December 2021, Ronaldo acquired 90% of Cruzeiro’s SAF for R$400 million, when the team was in the second division, also assuming the club’s debt, valued at R$1 billion. At the beginning of last year, Fenômeno had already negotiated the sale of 20% of Cruzeiro football shares to Pedro Lourenço, approximately R$90 million.

Ronaldo and Pedro Lourenço, also known in Minas as Pedrinho BH, have an old relationship. The businessman was alongside the Fenômeno during the Cruzeiro caravan in Conselheiro Lafaiete, in the interior of the State of Minas, celebrating the club’s access to the Brazilian Series A, in 2022. The two exchanged compliments and the former player thanked Lourenço for his support behind the scenes of the team when he needed it most.

Lourenço had an active participation in Cruzeiro in recent years. Supermercados BH was the main sponsor and one of the team’s biggest financial supporters. The businessman helped pay the salaries of players and staff when the club was relegated and continued to help football financially.

At 47 years old, Ronaldo entered his career as a businessman after hanging up his boots. The hero of the Brazilian team’s fifth world championship and partner in several holding companies. Among them is Tara Sports, based in Madrid, Spain, and responsible for managing Real Valladolid, a Spanish team whose Brazilian has been a majority shareholder since 2018 after purchasing 51% of the shares for 30 million euros (around R$141 million). ), and president since 2022.

The Brazilian’s objective was to make Valladolid compete in European competitions from the fifth year of his management. However, the Spanish team was relegated in the 2020/21 season, rose the following year, but fell again in 2022/23. The Brazilian is a frequent target of protest from fans and does not rule out negotiating his part in the shares. The high taxes charged in Spain are an obstacle.

Relegated in 2019, Cruzeiro spent three seasons in the second division, returning to compete in the elite of Brazilian football only last year, when they fought again against relegation and finished in 14th place, qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana. Recently, the team fired Argentine coach Nicolás Larcamón after being eliminated in the first phase of the Copa do Brasil by the modest Sousa, from Paraíba. Fernando Seabra, former under-20 coach, took over the team.