Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Juan Sartori have bought the remainder of Stewart Donald's Sunderland shares - meaning Donald is no longer involved with the club. Majority shareholder and chairman Louis-Dreyfus has increased his stake from 58 percent to 64 percent, with Sartori's stake increasing from 33 percent to 36 percent.
Donald's sale ends his five-year association with the club, which began when he and Charlie Methven bought the club from then-owner Ellis Short in May 2018. A statement from Sunderland said: "Sunderland AFC today announces that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has increased his shareholding in the club.
"Mr Louis-Dreyfus has increased his stake to 64 percent, with Juan Sartori increasing his stake to 36 percent. The shares have been acquired through the purchase of shares previously held by Stewart Donald, who has now exited the club's shareholder group entirely.
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"SAFC's board of directors remains unchanged."
The latest trading comes two months after Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori last increased their holdings as Donald sold off more than half of his remaining stake. In March, Louis-Dreyfus bought an additional seven percent and Sartori three percent, which left them with 58 percent and 33 percent respectively, and Donald held nine percent.
When Swiss billionaire heir Louis-Dreyfus initially arrived at the club in February 2021, he bought a 41 percent stake with those shares coming from Donald who was left with 34 percent. At that stage, Sartori was already at the club and had a 20 percent holding, while Methven held the remaining 5 percent.
Louis-Dreyfus was described as the 'controlling' shareholder, even through he did not own an outright majority of the shares in the club. But that changed in June last year when Methven sold his shares in their entirety and left the club while Donald sold 15 percent, which meant Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori each increased their stake by 10 percent - making Louis-Dreyfus the majority shareholder.
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