Featured image credit: Valencia CF
Spanish LaLiga club Valencia has completed a refinancing operation that it hopes will pave the way for construction to recommence on its Nou Mestalla stadium project in January 2025.
In recent months, Valencia has been working on the execution of a long-term corporate facility of €121m (£101m/$128m) and a short-term bridging loan facility of €65m. The two transactions have now closed, with Valencia having repaid all of its existing corporate debts.
The club said the restructuring has “substantially improved” its capital structure and provided it with sufficient liquidity, solvency and financial depth for the coming years.
Valencia has been assisted in the process by financial advisor Bibium Capital and legal advisor Addleshaw Goddard. Goldman Sachs also served as an investment banker, acting as a structuring and placement agent.
Goldman Sachs was engaged by Valencia in September, with the company having launched an operation to seek out investors for the club. Valencia had been said to be carrying debt of around €300m, a large proportion of which was required to be repaid in just over 18 months.
The new corporate debt facility of €121m has been raised in the capital markets, specifically in the United States Private Placement (USPP), made up of “prominent” professional investors. Goldman Sachs acted as the creditor in the €65m short-term bridge loan facility, which will be subsequently refinanced by the Nou Mestalla project financing.
The stadium project financing is currently in progress and is expected to be completed in a few months. Construction work on the project was suspended in February 2009, but in July Valencia announced that it had received the green light from the city council to resume work.
The project must be completed within 30 months of work commencing. The club presented revised plans for the Nou Mestalla back in June 2022. The plans included revised capacity figures that will see the stadium delivered to a 70,000 capacity, but initially limited to 49,000.
Valencia president Layhoon Chan said: “The completion of the debt restructuring exercise marks a milestone in our journey, one that many of us have worked tirelessly to reach. The successful completion of the corporate financing agreement, alongside the bridging loan, has strengthened our financial position.
“This allows us to confidently move forward with the financing for the Nou Mestalla Stadium Project. The new stadium project represents our commitment to growth, to innovation, and to the vision that will be propelling us forward.”
The Nou Mestalla did not make the Spanish Football Federation’s list of 11 proposed stadiums for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Spain is set to co-host the World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay also set to stage “celebratory” matches during the tournament.
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