Team Vitality reportedly closing in on Paris Volley takeover

After Bigetron and HavoK, the French esports club is said to be negotiating a takeover of an institution of French volleyball. An offer is expected within days.

Vitality could soon add a very unexpected string to its bow. According to information revealed by Le Parisien on August 26, the French group has been in talks since the spring with Paris Volley's shareholders with a view to becoming the club's majority shareholder. Discussions reportedly intensified over the summer, and a formal offer is said to be close to being tabled.

The Parisian club's management has spent months looking for new investors, so far without success. A source close to the matter quoted by the newspaper points to current shareholders no longer willing to carry on as things stand, and to a deal meant to bring the club back to the top of French and European volleyball.

A historic club in financial trouble

Paris Volley means nine French championship titles since 2000, a French Cup won last spring, 1,500 registered members and the distinction of being the first French club to win the Champions League, in 2001.

Saved from folding in 2018 by new investors, the club runs on a budget of around €1.2 million, has received only €525,000 of the roughly €700,000 in subsidies expected from the City of Paris, has reportedly not paid all of its players, and must present new financial guarantees to the DNACG in October.

An accelerating external growth strategy

For more than a year, Vitality has been stacking up acquisitions. In May 2025, the organization bought Indonesia's Bigetron Esports, which became Bigetron by Vitality and was turned into the club's mobile division.

More recently came Team HavoK, one of the biggest names in Fortnite worldwide. Now competing as HavoK by Vitality, it gives the club an immediately competitive Fortnite section and a very young audience.

The reverse move exists on the competition's side too: in 2025, L'Équipe reported that Karmine Corp was in discussions with RAC Basket de Rueil-Malmaison, a fourth-division side, with the aim of launching its own basketball team. There has been no public update on the project since.

Nothing has been signed yet on the Paris Volley side, and neither party has confirmed anything. But between the October deadline and an offer described as imminent, the coming weeks should quickly settle the club's fate.