MARSEILLE, France -- A Canadian mining company, a British holding company and a group of French firms have decided to buy former European soccer champion Marseille from owner Bernard Tapie, the club said on Wednesday. Marseille financial manager Alain Laroche said Winnipeg-based Platinor-Mapresol would be the main shareholder along with the unnamed British holding company and about 30 southern French firms. Together they would take a combined 61.67 percent stake in OM-SOS, which controls the team. Tapie, a businessman turned politician, and the club are waiting for Platinor-Mapresol and the British holding company to come up with financial guarantees, Laroche told reporters. Tapie, who has been banned from French football because of alleged match-rigging by Marseille last year, would become honorary president of the club, Laroche said. The new owners agreed to inject 86.5 million francs ($15.4 million) into the club by the end of June and later add another 50 million francs. Laroche said Marseille will report an operating profit of about 35 million francs for the fiscal year ending June 30. In April, Marseille was relegated to France's second division in a harsh punishment imposed by the French soccer federation.
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