FC Barcelona has unveiled plans to pay for its vast Espai Barça project through a €1.5bn bond issue that runs until the second half of the century.
Following the granting of the Spotify Camp Nou redevelopment project to Limak, club president Joan Laporta last week confirmed that the bonds have been certified by Morningstar Sustainalytics and will be issued on the US market in the Green Bond category. They have been given a stable BBB+ rating by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA).
Laporta said the funding required for the Limak to commence work on the project will be in place by March 31.
While Laporta did not announce further details of the issue, El Economista claims there will be three tranches, each of $500m, expiring in 2032, 2045, and 2052. The report says the first tranche will be repaid in full in 2032 and the second will be paid off in installments. Barcelona will only pay interest on the third until 2045 and from that date it will begin to repay the principal.
It is estimated that the redeveloped Camp Nou could generate €346m in income per season.
In January 2023 it was announced that the Turkish company Limak Construction had won the tender to carry out the redevelopment of its stadium, with work scheduled to begin in June following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. Barcelona will spend the 2023-24 season at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys while the Camp Nou undergoes major renovation work.
The revamp forms part of the club’s wider Espai Barça project, which also includes the delivery of a new Palau Blaugrana arena and the wide-ranging Campus Barça development. The capacity of the Camp Nou will increase from 98,000 to 105,000 as part of the revamp.
Barcelona brought forward some of its planned renovation work at the Camp Nou to take advantage of LaLiga’s winter break for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. A partial demolition project was completed in November and the wider revamp will begin in June.
