Ares Locked in $250 Million Fight Over Flagship Football Deal

Ares Management Corp. is engaged in an increasingly bitter dispute with John Textor, the majority shareholder of Eagle Football Holdings LLC, over the unwinding of one of its biggest sports investments.

Los Angeles-based Ares is seeking to retrieve about $250 million in outstanding loans to Eagle, people familiar with the matter said. The firm wants to get its money back either by selling or taking control of Eagle-owned French football club Olympique Lyonnais, the people said.

Eagle acquired Lyon, as the club is commonly known, for around
€800 million ($949 million) in 2022. Ares backed that deal ...