By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 17 – The majority shareholder of Lechia Gdansk, currently playing in the Ekstraklasa, is planning to sell its stake in the Polish football club.
Wroclawskie Centrum Finansowe (WCF), controlled by Andrzej Kuchar and his wife Ewa Andreasik-Kuchar who is the formal owner of the financial services company, is the majority shareholder of Lechia with a 71.33% stake representing 57% of the voting rights.
Potential investors interested in acquiring the top tier club include both local and foreign-based entities, according to Andrzej Kuchar.
“One of them is a group of entrepreneurs from Gdansk, and the other one is a Portuguese entity,” Kuchar told local broadcaster Radio Gdansk. Kuchar also said that the decision to withdraw from Lechia was final.
In 2012, Kuchar offered the city of Gdansk to purchase the shares for some 10.7 million zloty (€2.6 million), but the offer was turned down by Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz. The mayor said that the city preferred to help Lechia’s owners find a new investor for the club.
Lechia’s PGE Arena has a capacity of 43,615. The stadium hosted a number of matches at the UEFA Euro 2012 championships.
Established in 1945, Lechia is based in Gdansk, in the country’s northern Pomorskie region. Since the 2008/2009 season, the club has been playing in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Poland’s professional football league. Lechia won the 1983 Cup of Poland and the Super Cup of Poland the same year.
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