Featured image credit: Rob Ridley
GL Events appears set to secure a new concession contract for the Stade de France after a judge rejected an appeal against the tender process lodged by current incumbents, Vinci and Bouygues.
The French Government in December entered into exclusive negotiations with GL Events, selecting its proposal ahead of a rival offer from Vinci and Bouygues. The Stade de France is currently owned by the Government and is operated through the Consortium du Stade de France, which is two-thirds owned by Vinci and one-third by fellow construction engineering company, Bouygues.
Through an agreement with the Consortium, the state granted management of the 81,338-capacity stadium to the two companies in 1995. The 30-year contract with Vinci and Bouygues is set to end on July 1, and the state initially published two calls for tenders in March 2023, one for the outright sale of the stadium and the other for a new concession agreement.
The pursuit of the latter strategy was focused on after a potential buyer for the Stade de France did not come forward. GL Events has entered into discussions with the Government to assume management of the Stade de France from August as part of a new 30-year contract. However, the process, and the selection of GL Events, has proven controversial, with news of Vinci and Bouygues’ appeal emerging last month.
Vinci and Bouygues took the state to court over what they claimed were irregularities in the tender process. The Vinci-Bouygues consortium took issue with the process conducted by Fin Infra, the entity which supports state investment projects.
A request for interim relief was filed with the Tribunal administratif de Montreuil, with a hearing held on January 29 and the verdict announced yesterday (Thursday). A statement from the court read: “Requested by the Consortium du Stade de France, the interim relief judge rejects the request for annulment of the tendering procedure launched by the state with a view to awarding the Stade de France concession contract. Ruling in a panel of three judges, it considers that at this stage of the procedure, the state has not failed in its obligations of publicity and competitive tendering.”
The tender process had been “marked by multiple breaches of the obligations of publicity and competition”, according to Vinci-Bouygues, with the applicants’ cause for complaint including that Fin Infra did not sufficient define “the needs to be satisfied” by the candidates.
Another grievance concerns the role of the French Football Federation (FFF) and French Rugby Federation (FFR), the main tenants of the Stade de France, in the process. Vinci-Bouygues believe the requirement that they be granted “priority reception” against other events should have come alongside a guarantee of a predefined number of matches from the two federations.
The applicants also highlighted “the irregularity of the offer from GL Events”, in particular whether Paris Entertainment Company (PEC), operator of Accor Arena, Le Bataclan and adidas arena, is part of GL Events’ proposal.
The court added yesterday: “The interim relief judge dismissed all the arguments by which the Consortium argued that the state had failed to meet its obligations of publicity and competition.
“In particular, the judge notes, in light of the evidence produced during the investigation, that the state did not make a manifest error in assessing the technical and financial capabilities of GL Events Venues.
“He also considers that the challenge to the role given, during the handover, to the sports federations, which are intended to be hosted within the stadium, is unfounded. He also dismisses the criticism of the intervention and role of certain technical partners with GL Events Venues.
“Considering that the state has not failed in its obligations of publicity and competition at this stage of the procedure, the interim relief judge rejects the appeal of the Consortium du Stade de France.”
The Consortium now has the option of taking its grievances to the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative jurisdiction, but it is expected a new concession contract will be sealed with GL Events. The state is now allowed to continue exclusive negotiations with the firm.
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