Bank of America also in the running to save Barça from financial ruin

BarcelonaJoan Laporta's rejection of LaLiga Impulso project is convulsing Barça's current affairs. The executive president does not want to jump through La Liga president Javier Tebas's hoops in his struggle not only to build an exciting sports project for the coming years, but also to end the current financial year with profits instead of losses. As advanced by El Confidencial and confirmed by ARA, one of the alternatives to the agreement with the CVC fund – which finances La Liga's project – is Bank of America. "It brings better conditions", Laporta allies claim.

With CVC, the condition set by Tebas is to sign away 10% of the television rights for 50 years in exchange for €270m and a spending plan that would only leave a little more than €40m to sign players. Without Tebas's support, CVC would contribute the same amount for 8% of the rights, but it would count as debt instead capital. Still, this would not be advantageous due to financial fair play regulations. Faced with this impasse, Bank of America proposes to take €600m of the club's debt and equity for a higher percentage of rights, but for fewer years. Bank of America is one of the most heavily involved in the financing of Real Madrid, whose president, Florentino Pérez, is one of the most interested in getting Barça not so sign with CVC and align with Tebas and La Liga. The Super League project, among other things, is at stake.

"We could have sold assets a long time ago, but we have chosen to wait to do it in the best conditions". This is how the club justifies the fact that Barça has delayed the search for economic solutions for so long. The board chaired by Joan Laporta will seek club members approval to the sale of assets in order to reinvest in the club in an online assembly on a weekday during working hours (16 June at 18.30 h).

BLM, a slow-burning sale

"It has been said that we are selling grandma's jewels and that is not exactly the case: what we want is to outsource the management of certain sectors to companies that understand more than we do". This is the position the club defends. This is especially true for merchandising business BLM, which will be difficult to sell before the new budget is drawn up. On the other hand, this constructive spirit does not fit so well with the transfer of up to 25% of television rights for several decades for millions received in tranches (soft debt and capital), which will plug holes in the short term and give Barça's finances some manoeuvring space. Barça is forced to lose control, albeit reluctantly, of future audiovisual revenues. And, as Laporta has always looked askance at the CVC and LaLiga Impulso route, he will most likely squeeze every possibility of signing an analogous alternative in collusion with Goldman Sachs, the institution's main creditor. This is where Bank of America's proposal comes into play.