DLA Piper advises on refinancing of Valencia Club de Fútbol

DLA Piper has successfully advised a consortium of institutional investors and bank lenders, including Goldman Sachs as the arranger and placement agent, on a financing package for Valencia Club de Fútbol. This strategic investment is primarily aimed at bolstering the club’s financial stability, liquidity, and solvency in the short, medium, and long term, while supporting its ambitious growth plans. In particular, the financing package is a precursor to the Nou Mestalla Stadium Project financing.

The financing package includes a long-term corporate facility of EUR121 million and a short-term bridging loan facility of EUR65 million. The short-term bridge financing with Goldman Sachs acting directly as the creditor, will allow the club to advance and accelerate its strategic roadmap. This bridge loan facility is anticipated to be subsequently refinanced by the Nou Mestalla Stadium Project financing, which is currently in progress and is expected to be completed in the coming months.

Following completion of the two arrangements, the club has repaid its existing corporate debts and substantially improved its capital structure, providing it with sufficient liquidity, solvency and financial depth for the coming years. The deal also aligns the club with the largest and leading professional football entities, enabling it to achieve its ambitious, strategic objective to become a leading global sporting institution.

The multi-jurisdictional team was led by Charlotte Lewis-Williams, and Jesús Zapata partners in DLA Piper's Finance practice. They were supported by Tony Lopez (US qualified partner from the firm's London office, Finance), Andrés Lorrio (partner, Corporate), María Alonso (counsel, Tax), Alberto Rubio (senior associate, Finance), Simran Bal, Ben Lumley and Sara Espina (all associates, Finance), and Diego Sánchez (associate, Corporate).

Charlotte Lewis-Williams commented: “This refinancing is a pivotal moment for Valencia Club de Fútbol as it looks to activate its business strategy. Through the funding, the Club will benefit from strengthening its overall financial position by entirely refinancing its indebtedness as well as giving the Club the added capability of meeting its working capital needs, allowing it to effectively realise its strategic innovation and growth plans.

“The deal is once again an example of DLA Piper’s knowledge and experience to structure and document complex and innovative finance transactions in the sports sector. Separately, we have been closely following the tragic natural disaster in Valencia and our thoughts are with everyone impacted by these unfortunate recent events”.

Jesús Zapata added: “We hope that this refinancing will allow Valencia Club de Fútbol to obtain the financial stability necessary to fulfil its strategic plan and move forward with the Nou Mestalla project. The redevelopment of the stadium can be seen as a cornerstone of the Valencian community and, in these very difficult times due to the tragic floods we all have in our thoughts, an exemplary sign of resilience.

“The transaction was another opportunity to support Goldman Sachs and the international investors involved in this refinancing in completing another highly complex transaction in continental football, a particularly booming sector. Once again, our team demonstrates its leadership in the Sports Finance sector at a national and European level, demonstrating our ability to provide our clients with international teams that are also experts in the particularities of Spanish sports finance”.

DLA Piper’s European Sports Finance team is part of the firm’s Media, Sports, and Entertainment sector, co-chaired by Peter White, a key client relationship partner for Goldman Sachs and other major sports clients globally.

DLA Piper’s notable transactions in the sports sector include:

• Advising on a EUR125 million refinancing for Real Betis Balompié
• Advising on the EUR108 million refinancing package for Sevilla FC
• Supporting on the EUR385 million refinancing of Olympique Lyonnais Group
• Helping with EUR1.45 billion financing of FC Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou, the financing of FC Barcelona’s (FCB) media rights (and FCB’s sale of certain other La Liga media rights to Sixth Street)
• Advising on the EUR65 million finance package for Real Betis Balompié, funded by Pricoa Private Capital