Atletico Madrid Agrees to $216M Capital Increase with Ares
Atletico Madrid agreed to a $216.9 million capital increase with U.S. investment manager Ares Management.
Ares will receive a 33.96% stake in Spain’s LaLiga champions.
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Atletico’s debt reportedly reached $1.2 billion following the 2019-20 season, however, investing in Atletico could pay off. LaLiga was the only top-five league in Europe to report positive results last season.
The league generated record revenue of $5.96 billion in 2019-2020, compared to $5.32 billion the season before.
Ares has approximately $227 billion in assets under management and has previously attempted to establish itself within the world’s most popular sport.
Last year, the investment manager backed Kapital Football Group, a soccer-focused holding company, during its attempt to acquire Southampton FC.
Failure to agree to a price with club majority owner Gao Jisheng forced KFG and Ares to look elsewhere.
KFG and Ares are also considering investments in clubs from Brazil, Portugal, and Belgium.
ESPN recently reached an eight-year broadcasting rights deal for all 380 LaLiga matches per season, with coverage slated to kick off in August 2021.
LaLiga is also home to Barcelona FC and the only sports team to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue despite financial woes from the pandemic and the highest salary bill in Europe.
