London High Court Grants Textor Interim Injunction Blocking Eagle Bidco Administrators from Selling 90% Botafogo SAF Stake Until at Least 9 September 2026

On 12 August 2026, the London Commercial Court (King's Bench Division) granted John Textor an interim injunction restraining the administrators of Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited, appointed by creditor Ares, from selling the company's 90% shareholding in Brazilian football club Botafogo SAF until at least 9 September 2026, when the matter is listed to be heard again. The injunction is a status-quo preservation order, not a finding on who owns the shares. The court applied the American Cyanamid test, which requires only that there is a "serious issue to be tried" on the merits, a relatively low threshold consistent with interlocutory relief. Textor's underlying claim is proprietary in nature: he asserts that Eagle Bidco never paid the R$150.3m consideration due under the November 2022 share purchase agreement, meaning the shares were never validly transferred. Cork Gully are the appointed administrators. The sale they were preparing to complete was to GDA Luma Capital (Gabriel de Alba) at a binding offer price of US$130m gross (approximately US$105m net after deducting a prior loan). Ares holds a secured claim of approximately US$547.4m. Eagle Bidco also sold its interest in Olympique Lyonnais to Michele Kang's Olympe Bidco for US$30m, completing on 26 June 2026. The injunction's practical reach is limited: English interim injunctions operate in personam (binding only on the parties before the English court) and are not self-executing against Brazilian-situs assets. The STJ (Brazil's Superior Court of Justice) generally does not homologate interim foreign relief for lack of finality, and a Rio court has already refused Textor parallel freezing relief.

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