Barcelona hoping to announce €60 million cash injection from German investors imminently
In another whirlwind summer transfer window, Barcelona still seem to have their hands tied in terms of finances, with the club in a race against time to register their players ahead of the new season.
And as a result, the club has been forced into activating another one of their infamous economic levers – which were the subject of a lot of chatter last season.
After focusing their efforts towards finalising the departures of certain players on the transfer list did not pan out very well, the club are now being forced to look at other alternatives to ensure their new signings are registered before the new season begins.
One of the avenues they have been exploring is the sale of a percentage of Barça Studios, which will bring in a chunk of revenue that can be invested into the squad.
Barcelona awaiting the final details
According to recent reports from Mundo Deportivo, the Catalans are merely waiting for the final terms of their deal to be ironed out, before an announcement is made. The deal with an undisclosed German capital investment fund has seen some back and forth over the last few days, but it seems as though the agreement is now complete and will be announced imminently.
This deal was one of the key features of the financial feasibility plan that Barcelona presented to La Liga – which was the basis for the club bringing in new signings as this lever would ensure they are registered.
With Socios and Orpheus Media, who purchased 24.5% stake each in Barça Studios last year, deferring some of their payments, Barcelona have had to seek out this extra option as the money from these two companies was initially going to be the way they registered their signings.
As such the club has seemingly agreed to sell 16% stake of the entity to a German investment fund, in exchange for €60 million, with an announcement expected today or tomorrow.
It must be noted that the 16% stake does not come from the 51% Barcelona own after last summer. Instead, Socios and Orpheus Media have been made to give up 8% of their share each, which is being sold to German investors. Vice-president Rafa Yuste had assured the fans before the Joan Gamper trophy clash, that there would be no issues with registrations – presumably because negotiations with this German fund had gone smoothly.