Lhe days of the red oval logo with “Bigard” written in gold letters on SU Agen match shirts are numbered. At the end of the season, this agribusiness giant will no longer be the major partner of the eight Brennus club. Except for collectors of vintage sports objects, this announcement made Thursday by President Jean-François Fonteneau is not good news. At the time of…
Lhe days of the red oval logo with “Bigard” written in gold letters on SU Agen match shirts are numbered. At the end of the season, this agribusiness giant will no longer be the major partner of the eight Brennus club. Except for collectors of vintage sports objects, this announcement made Thursday by President Jean-François Fonteneau is not good news. At the time of ending “the Biarritz saga” for a possible buyout of 51% of its sharesthe strong man had trouble digesting the news: “Bigard will retire to refocus on the Top 14.”
Already present on the shorts and under the number on the back of the Castres Olympique and Stade Rochelais tunics, the cattle slaughtering and meat processing company will also appear next season on Lyon shirts. After two decades of supporting the SUA, a page is turning. “Bigard had come for special relations with certain representatives of the club”, recalls Jean-François Fonteneau, alluding to Alain Garbino, former pillar three times champion of France of National B in the early 70s and especially former director of the site of produced by Bon-Encontre.
A slow disengagement
An emblematic partner of the SUA since 2003, Bigard no longer had the same weight in the club’s budget. “In 2007-2008, it represented 30% of partnerships and hospitality with €1.25 million,” explains Jean-François Fonteneau. It remained in decreasing fashion until this season when it only weighs 250,000 euros as a major partner, i.e. barely 5% of our turnover from partnerships and hospitality, which has almost doubled since 2007, going from from 3.5 to 6.5 M€ to represent 68% of the club’s budget. “A slow disengagement which is however not insignificant.
“The idea is to try to create synergies with Japan, like setting up a training center there”
“It’s a national company that doesn’t have so many economic interests for the club,” says Jean-François Fonteneau. Somewhere, its position was a little above ground without a real territorial anchorage. But the blow is harsh. “Ticketing and subscriptions weigh 6 to 7%, continues the president from Agenais. So an official partner at 250 or 300,000 euros, that’s some match revenue…” And another pebble in the shoe of Jean-François Fonteneau, who reactivated all possible leads to find new investors and partners, including the Rothschild investment bank.
“Synergies with Japan”
Even if the budget for next season (between 13.5 and 14 M€) is tied up and the SUA has never had such high equity capital (4.6 M€), the president of Agenais will still have to recapitalize in the next months. The fault of a structural decisive of the order of 1.5 to 2 M€. The SUA displays the 2e budget of Pro D2, but it is “overheated”. This is why, despite 550 partners who are pushing behind the SUA, Jean-François Fonteneau is appealing to “beautiful companies in the department which are not present” at his side. “The objective is to get €1 million more. »
In this perspective, the strong man of the SUA is counting in particular on the Armandie Paris club, which had its first dinner last month in the capital. Upsa was notably represented. But Jean-François Fonteneau is above all digging into Taisho Pharmaceutical, the largest pharmaceutical laboratory specializing in family medication in Japan and the 8e world, which bought Uspa from Bristol-Myers in 2019: “The idea is to try to create synergies with Japan, such as setting up a training center there to forge links both sporting and economic. »
A major player in the development of rugby in Japan since 2001, named major partner of the Brave Blossoms in 2020 and official supplier of the 2023 World Cup in France, Taisho Pharmaceutical would not be a “UFO” in the SUA environment. Above all, it could allow him to finally change gear.
