Spanish soccer clubs Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao have taken legal action against LaLiga, following the organisation’s €2 billion (US$2.3 billion) investment deal with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
The ‘Impulso’ project was agreed upon last week after 37 of the 42 clubs in Spanish soccer’s top two divisions gave their approval. Under the agreement, CVC will take an 8.25 per cent share in a company consisting of LaLiga’s media rights assets for the next 50 years.
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The original proposal, announced in August, was worth €2.7 billion (US$3 billion) before Real, Barca and Bilbao opted out of the deal. The trio will not receive any of CVC’s funds but will retain their full allocation of central media rights income.
The three clubs had already threatened legal action and also submitted an alternative funding proposal in a last-ditch attempt to scupper the CVC deal.
The plan, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg, included the creation of a special purpose vehicle that would raise €2 billion in debt, which would be distributed to LaLiga clubs.
The teams would then repay €115 million (US$130 million) each year for 25 years through media revenue.