Barcelona agree financing for Espai Barça project
Barcelona have confirmed an agreement has been reached with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan over the financing of the Espai Barça to allow works to move forward.
Renovation work on the stadium will be carried out by the Turkish construction company Limak, which said that 'the new Camp Nou will not have to be touched for 35 years'.
On the agreement, which follows uncertainty over the whole project, the club said: "FC Barcelona has agreed financing for Espai Barça as planned, ensuring the start of work to renovate Spotify Camp Nou and fulfilling the criteria approved during the referendum.
"The club’s assets were not used as a guarantee and a mortgage wasn’t taken out on the stadium. The club agreed financing with a total of 20 investors to the value of €1.45bn, a figure that covers the cost of the works for Espai Barça.
"The financing is with some of the main prestigious financial entities around the world. It has different instalments to be paid progressively at 5, 7, 9, 20, and 24 years, with a flexible structure, including a grace period.
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"The club will start to repay the operation once work has been completed on the stadium, using income generated by the Spotify Camp Nou, which is forecast to be around €247m per year.
"FC Barcelona continues to make progress with its strategic plan and in developing the Espai Barca project, managing to achieve as much flexibility as possible when finding the best proposal in cost and time terms.
"Throughout the process, the Board of Directors and the club’s own teams have been joined in their efforts by key partners, such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, JLL, Perez-Llorca, DLA Piper, Key Capital Partners, Legends, and IPG 360, among others. The proposal consists of combining the experience and knowledge of the club’s teams and professionals with best practices in the different areas involved in the Espai Barça project.
"This operation once again confirms the club’s credibility regarding the Spotify Camp Nou project, the epicenter for Espai Barça. The project is essential when it comes to keeping FC Barcelona at the forefront of world sport, is one of the foundations for the club’s economic recovery and future viability and is a tool to enable continuation of the governance model, whereby the over 146,000 club members are its owners."