Eleven LaLiga clubs to jointly receive a EUR67M loan from Rights & Media Funding Limited

In one of the first major loans to a top European league, LaLiga has selected Rights & Media Funding Limited to lend EUR 67M to 11 LaLiga clubs under identical five-year terms. 

LaLiga worked with the independent financial services provider JB Capital and Perez Llorca, a pre-eminent law firm in Spain, to invite lenders to participate in negotiations to deliver funding to strengthen the liquidity of football clubs in LaLiga SmartBank, the second division of Spanish professional football, as well as those clubs recently promoted to LaLiga Santander for the 20/21 season.  

The project was launched to provide clubs in LaLiga with a tool to help them manage their financial needs in the context of the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

LaLiga, in its role of safeguarding the economic stability of professional football, facilitated the access of interested clubs to an innovative financing tool that will make it possible to meet the liquidity needs of participating teams, optimising their financing conditions and strengthening their capital structure.  

The transaction involved 11 clubs which, for the first time, jointly entered the financing market. This innovative joint financing structure attracted the interest of several lenders.  

“Securing this type of loan is clear evidence of the financial stability and confidence in the future of Spanish clubs and LaLiga,” said Jose Guerra, LaLiga general managing director. “This transaction opens a door to a new financing channel in which clubs can enter the market in a coordinated manner, obtaining a more solid structure and therefore more attractive financing conditions.”  

Rights & Media Funding Limited, a well-known and respected lender to LaLiga clubs, was selected as the sole lender. The loan was secured with the help of Rights & Media Funding Limited lawyers Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in London and Toda & Nel-lo Abogados in Spain.  

“We want to thank Rights & Media Funding Limited, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP and Toda & Nel-lo Abogados for their commercial and collegiate approach in completing this complex project at speed and with a true spirit of partnership with the clubs and LaLiga,” said Guerra. 

The financing structure is based on the monetisation of the audiovisual rights marketed by LaLiga and has a duration beyond the current domestic audiovisual rights contract. This demonstrates the confidence of Rights & Media Funding Limited in LaLiga, as well as in the competition’s different rights buyers.  

This transaction, for which LaLiga has been assisted by JB Capital (exclusive financial advisor and placing agent of the financing) and Pérez-Llorca (legal advisor), marks a milestone in the world of football, being one of the largest transactions made at European level in the sector.