BARCELONA: LaLiga champions FC Barcelona have named top American financial services company Goldman Sachs to finance the construction of the new Camp Nou around mid-2019, Spain’s El Confidencial reports.
The club can go ahead with its plan after it got an approval from local authorities in April this year, amidst much controversy of the usage of land space.
The overall revamp of Camp Nou is estimated to cost 600 million euros ($703.83 million) and will also feature the creation of new hotel and shopping areas in the adjacent areas around Camp Nou. The ground’s seating capacity is expected to increase from 99,354 to 105,000.
This move is said to be unique in Spain as usually clubs have relied on local banks to upgrade their infrastructure in the past.
Besides granting Barcelona a loan, Goldman Sachs will be seeking different forms of financing the project such as issuing of bonds, helping private investors gain television rights and more significantly winning naming rights for Camp Nou.
The company has been financing other football clubs as well. Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League will ready its new stadium in September this year. Whereas Serie A’s AS Roma will be developing its own courtesy a reported 230 million euros ($269.8 million) investment by the American firm.
