Kyril Louise-Dreyfus set to take controlling interest in Sunderland

The Frenchman will become chairman in the New Year, subject to approval by the English Football League.

Louis-Dreyfus' family established the Louis-Dreyfus group in the 19th century and owned the French club

Marseille

for 10 years before selling it in 2016.

In a club statement released on Thursday,

Louis-Dreyfus

said: "

First, I would like to thank Stewart Donald for his integrity and reasonableness over the last three months, which has led to me having the opportunity to take a controlling stake in Sunderland AFC

.

"Moving forward, we have a long-term strategy which integrates Sunderland's proud traditions with a modern structure and approach. We will seek to be at the frontier of research and innovation in all performance domains and place great emphasis on player development and the team's style of play.

"We want to create a team that is entertaining to watch and that embodies the spirit and the culture of those who attend, thereby reconnecting the team with its fanbase, whose support will be so vital to our success.

Donald will remain a minority shareholder in the club, alongside former executive director Charlie Methven.

Donald said:

"It's been no secret that I have been looking for some time to find the right person to take Sunderland forward and during the course of the last year there have been a lot of different people wanting to take over.

The club said that a final decision from the EFL is not due until mid-January.

Follow

for the