Czech entrepreneur and investor Martin Machoň, the owner of debt recovery group APS Holding, has sold his 49% stake in the Romanian football club Rapid Bucharest.

The buyer is Romanian investor Victor Angelescu, who has been Machoň’s partner in the club since 2018 when Rapid was playing in the third league.

Over the course of Machoň’s four years of collaboration with Rapid București, the club managed to return to the top football league from which it was relegated after its financial collapse in 2016. Machoň was not directly involved in club management, and so after seeing through promotion to the top league, he has decided to sell his stake. Both parties agreed not to comment on the terms of the transaction.

”Developing the Rapid Bucuresti over the past four years has been a great challenge, though it also broadly supported the activities of APS Romania. We wish Rapid and Victor the best of luck for this next stage in the club's history and look forward to seeing the team at the highest level of European competitions,” declared Martin Machoň, Owner of APS.

Victor Angelescu now holds 97% of Rapid’s shares, but he has been negotiating with Romanian businessman Dan Sucu, the owner of the local home décor retailer Mobexpert, to bring him on board as an investor, according to local Digisport.ro.

Rapid, which will celebrate its centenary in 2023, has won three Romanian league titles and 13 Romanian Cup trophies in its history.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: FC Rapid Facebook page)