DLA Piper wins Finance Team of the Year award at the Lawyer Awards 2024

Global law firm DLA Piper has won the Finance Team of the Year category at the Lawyer Awards 2024 for its work on the EUR1.45 billion financing for the redevelopment of the Spotify Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona, at the ceremony held in London on 18 June.

The investment-grade financing advised over 85 separate institutional investor and lender accounts and a mixture of USD and EUR fixed rate notes and loans. It was a complex and groundbreaking transaction which built on a unique structure, leveraging the full expertise of a team of over 40.

The transaction is of note as it is the first time a construction financing has utliised a Spanish law fund regulated and approved by the Spanish regulator (the CNMV). It is also the first-time future receivables have been securitised through a CNMV regulated transaction. This markedly opens the Spanish securitisation market to new asset classes.

The transaction was well received by rating agencies and investors, obtaining investment grade status, and has since been replicated for the Olympique Lyonnais stadium financing transaction, on which DLA Piper also advised.

A cross-border and cross-practice team, underscores the power of DLA Piper’s international platform and our unparalleled ability to clarify complexity. The transaction was led by Paul Gray (International Head of Sports Finance), Lewis Gaut and Tony Lopez, all partners in the firm’s Finance practice. They were supported by a DLA Piper team numbering over 40.

Paul Gray, partner and International Head of Sports Finance, commented: “It is rewarding to have received recognition for this complex and groundbreaking transaction. I do so on behalf of the wider team which extended to over 40 colleagues. This transaction could not have been completed without the outstanding contribution from all of them. Despite challenging financial headwinds, the transaction enabled construction at the Spotify Camp Nou to commence without delay. The growth in size and reputation of our European sports finance team has seen us act on several of the most significant transactions globally and this one in particular opens up the market even more.”

This is the second award received by the DLA Piper Finance Team this year, having been voted the European Law Firm of the Year by Real Estate Capital readers in March.