In what could be termed as a big blow to FC Barcelona, a report from Esport3 has claimed that the German investors who were to contribute €65 million by acquiring a 16% stake in Barça Studios have decided to back out from the agreement.
The money coming in from the funding was supposed to be a financial boost for the club as the executives had included it in the feasibility plan with the idea that the registration of players would be taken care of once the funds arrived.
As a result of the backing out, club president Joan Laporta has decided to take matters into his own hands as he will now look to resolve the issue from his level.
Barcelona’s trouble with finances
We have reported that before that Barcelona reached an agreement with a German investment fund to sell a 16% stake in Barça Studios which would have roped in as much as €65 million as revenue.
It must be noted that the team from Catalonia had already sold a 49% stake in Barça Studios to Orpheus and Socios.com last year.
Each company bought a 24.5% stake for €100 million but as they failed to deposit the €30 million installment payment in time, Barcelona were stuck in an unfavourable situation.
This is exactly why they decided to sell the 16% stake to the German investors, interestingly by convincing Orpheus and Socios.com to give up 8% of their stakes each.
Barcelona denying the news
As part of the follow-up, Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo has reported that sources from Barcelona have denied the claims, saying the agreement with the German investment group ‘has not fallen through’.
According to club sources, the deal is in process and will go through.
It is only a matter of time to see what exactly is panning out. If the deal goes through, nothing better.
But if it falls, Barcelona could be in big trouble as it could affect the club’s plans to register new signings like Ilkay Gundogan, Oriol Romeu, and Inigo Martinez, along with the new contracts of several first-team stars.