FC Barcelona have announced a new €120 million economic lever.
FC Barcelona have announced a new 'economic lever' worth €120 million ($132 million) which will allow them to register, and possibly buy, new players.
As explained through an official statement, Libero football finance AG and private investors advised by NIPA Capital B.V. have become new partners in Bridgeburg Invest, which is the holding company of Barca Vision.
"The investors have acquired a total of 29,5% of the ownership of Barca Vision (Bridgeburg) for €120 million corresponding to part of the participation being held by Socios.com and Orpheus Media," the statement read.
"Barca Vision is the Club’s initiative to integrate all digital content around Web3 and blockchain including NFTs and metaverse, which are part of the Club’s strategy to build the digital Espai Barca.
"With this transaction, FC Barcelona succeeds in strengthening Barca Vision alongside strategic partners who provide knowledge and experience to foster business opportunities in the digital world of sports and entertainment," the club added.
Barca are also entering into a "Business Combination Agreement with Mountain & Co.", which is a special purpose acquisition company focused on the sector of European digital media and technology.
"Under this transaction, FC Barcelona will merge its digital Barca Vision and audiovisual content units under the brand 'Barca Media'", the Catalans said, with the agreement allowing Barca Media "to access additional financing through the US capital markets" and accelerate the club's initiatives "across digital and audiovisual sectors and strengthen its ability to distribute Barca Media's content to new audiences in strategic markets around the globe".
Through this, FC Barcelona expect Barca Media "to become a significant source of income for the club [with] a pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $1 billion".
President Joan Laporta said that the club has made "considerable progress in the digital ecosystem turning our assets into a creative hub that boosts FC Barcelona’s brand to unique levels in the World".
"The club’s content strategy has proven to be a success and provides us with new ways to connect with our fans globally in addition to generate new revenue streams.
"This step we are taking now is a strategic move that provides us with new resources to continue growing at a time when the demand for digital sports content is clearly expanding reinforcing the path of digital transformation started in 2022," he added.
Barca noted that Libero is publicly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and specializes "in holistically supporting football clubs in all matters of financing and profitability" while offering "fully comprehensive advisory services around all economic matters of professional football clubs".
As for NIPA Capital, it is a Dutch based investment company which "provides a unique and innovate vision to accelerate company’s growth and will continue to advise the entity going forward."
Barca also remarked that Socios.com and Orpheus, who bought 24.5% stakes in Barca Studios last year, "will continue to play a key role in FC Barcelona’s Web3 strategy moving forward as strategic partners, deploying their expertise and technological infrastructure to develop new opportunities across various channels such as the BAR Fan Token".
Friday's announcement comes at a perfect time with the La Liga season starting at the weekend.
As things stand, Barca only have 12 players registered for the away trip to Getafe but can now rectify this.
Today's cash injection will allow them to make sure that fresh faces such as Ilkay Gundogan can feature at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez as well as existing first team stars that have penned new contracts.
Furthermore, Barca might be able to sign new players before the summer transfer window closes at the end of the month.
