The Barza obtains 1,450 million euros to carry out the works in its stadium, which will begin on June 1
Barcelona closed its financing plan for the renovation of the Camp Nou , with a loan of 1,450 million euros (around 1,600 million dollars) to carry out the works in its stadium, which will begin on June 1, the Catalan club announced this Monday through a statement.
In total, twenty investors will inject 1,450 million euros, "a figure that covers the cost of the works of the Espai Barça (the name of the project to renovate the Camp Nou and other club-owned infrastructures)," Barcelona said in its statement.
"FC Barcelona has closed the financing of Espai Barça as planned, guaranteeing the start of the renovation works of Spotify Camp Nou and complying with the approved criteria in the referendum, without the club's equity guarantee or mortgage on the stadium," the blaugrana entity said.
On December 19, 2021, 87.8% of the representatives of the members (42,693 out of 48,623 representatives, out of a total of more than 146,000 members) approved the project of President Joan Laporta for the club to initiate the financing process for a maximum of 1,500 million euros.
The plan included, for example, 900 million euros for the renovation of the Camp Nou, 420 million euros for the Palau Blaugrana, used for basketball and handball, and 20 million euros for the Johan Cruyff stadium, where the Barça B and the Barça women's team play.
The club negotiated this loan with international investors such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan or Legends. "It has different tranches of 5, 7, 9, 20 and 24 years, and a flexible structure, which has a grace period. The Club will start repaying the operation once the stadium works are finished, with the income generated by Spotify Camp Nou, which is expected to be around 247 million euros," Barça said.
A total to be repaid to which interest rates of 5% or 6% will have to be added, according to the Catalan sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
According to specialized media, Barça expects the works to be completed in June 2026.
In the meantime, the Catalan team will play their home matches for the 2023-2024 season at the Lluís-Companys stadium in the Catalan capital, and then hopes to be able to return Camp Nou, although with a reduced capacity of spectators, for the start of the 2024-2025 season. AFP