DLA Piper advises on EUR424 million issuance of notes to finance development of FC Barcelona's Spotify Camp Nou stadium

DLA Piper has advised a consortium institutional investors acting as noteholders, and Goldman Sachs as placement agent, on the issue of EUR424 million in notes to support the reconstruction of FC Barcelona's stadium, the Spotify Camp Nou, as part of the Espai Barça project. The funds will be used to partially refinance an existing facility extended to the borrower, a Spanish securitisation fund.

This latest issue is a continuation of the financing arranged through a pioneering structure put in place by DLA Piper, that utilises a Spanish law securitisation fund, regulated and approved by the Spanish Securities Exchange Commission (the CNMV). The financing obtained through this structure will start amortising from 2033 and is expected to be fully paid off by 2050 using revenues generated by the redeveloped Spotify Camp Nou.

A cross-border and multidisciplinary team from DLA Piper's UK, Spain, and US offices worked on the transaction led by partners Charlotte Lewis-Williams, Jennifer Dinsmore (both Finance), Andrés Lorrio (Capital Markets), and senior counsel Tony Lopez. They were supported by senior associates Alberto Rubio Medrano and Sara Espina Sanchez, associates Devanshu Jain, Natasha Chong, and Diego Sanchez, and trainee solicitor Dexter Lee.

Charlotte Lewis-Williams, partner, commented: “The completion of this transaction is a significant milestone for FC Barcelona and the wider sports finance market. Through this issuance we have helped deliver financial headroom and flexibility, and this transaction clearly underscores investor confidence in the dynamic professional sport sector, enabling long-term infrastructure development. The success of this deal once again underlines our cross-border capabilities in supporting the sustainable growth of European football clubs and their increasing use of innovative financing structures.”

DLA Piper's recent transactions in the sports sector include:

• EUR332 million financing package to support redevelopment of Valencia Club de Fútbol's Nou Mestalla redevelopment,
• EUR125 million refinancing for Real Betis Balompié,
• Valencia Club de Fútbol's EUR121 million long-term corporate facility and EUR65 million short-term bridging loan facility,
• EUR108 million refinancing package for Sevilla FC,
• EUR385 million refinancing of Olympique Lyonnais Group,
• EUR1.45 billion financing of FC Barcelona's Spotify Camp Nou, the financing of FC Barcelona's (FCB) media rights (and FCB's sale of certain other La Liga media rights).