Barcelona face further financial trouble after a key investor failed to produce funds to complete a vital deal, with president Joan Laporta liable.
- Sale of Barca Vision in doubt
- Laporta on hook for €20m guarantee
- Deal was crucial in securing La Liga license
WHAT HAPPENED? After agreeing to acquire a 9.8 percent stake in Barca Vision last month, the Frankfurt-listed football finance company Libero have failed to produce funds required to complete the sale, according to The Telegraph. The situation leaves Barca president Laporta in a difficult situation, having provided La Liga with a personal guarantee of €20 million (£17.2m/$21.5m) of the arrangement which was crucial in securing Barca’s league licence for the current season.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The transaction was one of a series of now-infamous ‘palancas’, or levers – arrangements that have secured crucial short-term funds in exchange for shares of future income or sales of club subsidiaries. Until now the strategy has largely been viewed as a success with a refreshed playing squad successful on the field and the remodelling of Camp Nou underway off it. Libero’s failure to come up with the required funding potentially puts one essential part of the strategy in jeopardy.
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WHAT NEXT FOR BARCA? Barca regroup after the international break and gear up for run of three games in seven days at their new temporary home the Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys. In particular, Laporta and the club’s accountants will be hoping for a smooth start to the Blaugrana’s Champions League campaign after two consecutive group-stage exits.
