FC Barcelona has raised fresh capital on the capital market. To do so, the Catalans issued bonds worth 105 million euros. These were purchased by U.S. investors and must be repaid with interest in October 2036.
FC Barcelona’s financial dealings are repeatedly the subject of criticism. During every transfer window, the club has trouble registering new players because it does not comply with the Spanish league’s financial regulations. Player purchases and sales are usually out of balance, and some players earn exorbitant salaries. Barça’s business model is financed on credit. And this is set to continue in the future. On Friday, the club announced that it had once again borrowed 105 million euros from investors.
Just under 5.4 million euros are due annually
Bonds were issued and attracted enormous interest. Barça could have even brought in more than twice that amount—in technical terms: the bond was more than 200 percent oversubscribed. Furthermore, according to the club, it took less than two hours to reach the desired volume. So it was no problem to raise the expected 105 million euros, which comes mainly from major U.S. investors. However, this loan naturally comes with interest: FC Barcelona must repay the money in October 2036 and will pay investors 5.14 percent interest annually until then—which amounts to just under 5.4 million euros.
The club intends to use the borrowed funds to strengthen its liquidity. The club is pleased with the strong interest shown by investors. This demonstrates “the confidence of international markets in the strength of FC Barcelona’s project.” Furthermore, this confidence is also reflected in the risk premium demanded by investors, which has fallen from 2.40 to 2.02 percentage points.
Alvarez seems out of reach even with fresh funds
The loan is intended to help the club continue to compete for the very top transfers in European soccer in the future. Just this summer, Barcelona signed English winger Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United for 80 million euros. President Joan Laporta and his team would also love to pry Argentine forward Julian Alvarez away from Atlético Madrid—but the Madrid club has so far refused to budge. Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil said in a statement: “We don’t want to sell him. We didn’t accept the 100-million-euro offer. We wouldn’t accept 150 million euros or 200 million euros either.”
