Barcelona exploring two new sources of financing to complete Camp Nou renovation

MADRID, Sept 24 - Spanish champions Barcelona are exploring two new sources of funding to cover the mounting costs of renovating their Camp Nou stadium, which will come in the form debt placements.

Last Saturday during a general assembly club members approved €510 million ($580,02 million) in additional financing to complete work on Camp Nou and cover revenue shortfalls.

The Catalan club will divide that financing into two distinct elements.

A source told Reuters on Thursday the first €300 million will take the form of project finance debt, structured through the securitisation fund that is financing the stadium.

It will be repaid from future Camp Nou revenues, in particular the new VIP hospitality areas being added, and has a maturity of 30 years.

This money can only be allocated to complete the works and is secured against stadium revenue rather than the club's assets. The source added that talks with potential investors had already taken place and were handled by Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment and Barcelona have yet to respond to a request for comment.

Separately, the club has arranged up to €210 million in senior debt secured against future television rights from LaLiga and UEFA competitions. This will be issued as media notes and has a maturity of 10 years.

This financing is specifically aimed at covering a cash-flow gap caused by delays to the stadium project, which have impacted Barcelona's projected revenues.

It will be split into two €105 million issues, one of which was placed in July and the other expected before the end of 2026.

Barcelona began work on Camp Nou in 2023, which was due to be completed in 2026. The renovated stadium will extend the roof, which previously covered only the main stand, around the whole stadium and increase the capacity to 105,000.

During Barca's general assembly, vice-president Ferran Olive said work on the stadium would not be completed until the 2028-29 season.

During the first half of the 2027-28 campaign, Barcelona will play at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic while construction of the roof is completed. Olive said they were budgeting for a return to Camp Nou in January 2028, though it could be earlier.

Olive and Barcelona President Joan Laporta blamed the conflict in Ukraine and global economic trends for rising costs and supply chain issues that contributed towards the delays. REUTERS