DLA Piper advises on the EUR1.45 billion financing of the redevelopment of FC Barcelona's home - The Spotify Camp Nou

DLA Piper has advised collectively over 20 investors and lenders including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan on the first of its kind transaction in Spain to fund the redevelopment of The Spotify Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona.

Funded by the securitisation of ticketing revenues through a new Spanish securitisation fund, and approved by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the finance will be used for the development plans for the stadium and surrounding area.  

Paul Gray, London-based partner in DLA Piper’s Finance, Projects and Restructuring team, and a Goldman Sachs client relationship partner, said: “We are delighted to support the group of financiers through this exciting transaction to revamp and renew The Spotify Camp Nou stadium. The completed transaction was supported by the great work spanning several of our teams across multiple offices.”

Alongside Gray, the DLA Piper team was led by London-based partner, Lewis Gaut (Finance, Projects and Restructuring (FPR)) and Juan Gelabert Chasco (FPR, Madrid), and supported by a team of 20 partners, legal directors, associates and trainees across a number of sectors and practice groups from its UK and Spanish offices.

DLA’s European Sports Finance team is part of the firm’s Media, Sports and Entertainment sector, co-chaired by Peter White, who is one of the firm’s key client relationship partners for Goldman Sachs and other significant sports clients globally. The team has previously advised on a number of transactions in the sporting world, including the acquisition of a significant controlling stake in Olympique Lyonnais Group (OL Groupe) by Eagle Football, the financing of FC Barcelona’s media rights (and FCB’s sale of certain other La Liga media rights to Sixth Street) and advising the shareholder of Inter Milan in connection with Oaktree Capital Management’s loan to them to finance the club’s ongoing operations.