Barcelona readies $437 million private placement to finish stadium revamp

BARCELONA – FC Barcelona is talking to investors to gauge interest for a private placement of debt to help finish a years-long revamp of its Spotify Camp Nou stadium that has been mired with delays.

The Spanish football club has been discussing with investors the sale of €300 million (S$437 million) worth of investment-grade rated bonds across three tranches, with maturities of up to 30 years, according to people familiar with the matter.

Goldman Sachs is arranging the transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. 

The debt is part of a €510 million financing package that Barcelona’s delegate members approved last week to complete the project.

In addition to the revamp, the package will help cover cost overruns caused by delays as well as expansions in the project including new VIP and hospitality areas, increased space for the museum, and enhanced 5G connectivity, according to the club.

The placements for the new debt are expected to take place between October and November.

At an Investor Day last week, the club received strong interest from existing and prospective investors for the new debt, some of the people familiar said.

Spokespeople for Barcelona and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Barcelona’s income has been hit in the past three seasons as a result of playing in a smaller and harder to access stadium while awaiting construction work at its historic home to be completed. 

The club originally raised €1.45 billion in debt to finance the Espai Barca project, which is expected to boost capacity to about 105,000 from over 99,000 and add new venues for other sports such as basketball and handball, a new museum and a new shop, among other features.

During the revamp, initially due to finish in 2026, the football club has been playing at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Montjuic, with about half the capacity, and at a Spotify Camp Nou stadium capped at around 63,000 seats.

It will have to play the first half of the 2027 to 2028 season in Montjuic again until construction is complete. 

Rising cost

The members of the club also ratified issuance of €210 million of fixed-rate notes backed by future La Liga and UEFA broadcast revenue, known as media notes.

Half of the notes were already sold in July, with maturities of up to 10 years and a bullet structure where principal isn’t paid until maturity. 

The €300 million stadium notes will be part of the securitisation vehicle that the club has for the debt funding the Espai Barca project.

Lenders had agreed to waive interest on the original debt until 2026, when the works in the stadium were expected to be finished.

The new notes are likely to come at a higher cost due to rising interest rates, the people said.

The July media notes were placed at around 5.14 per cent interest with existing and new private placement investors.

The new ones, which also have a 10-year maturity, are expected to pay a bit more at between 5.75 per cent and 6 per cent, while the stadium notes will be at the higher end of that range, the people said. BLOOMBERG