Barça Media Goes Dutch with Netherlands Move

FC BARCELONA is on course to emulate Ferrovial by moving the headquarters of its content creation branch, Barça Media, to the Netherlands.

As with the Spanish infrastructure company, Barcelona president Joan Laporta is making the move to make it easier to float Barça Media on the Nasdaq stock market.

As revealed in documents that have been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the club intends to raise capital on the American stock exchange.

Establishing Barça Media’s legal headquarters in the Netherlands does not involve transferring its operational headquarters or the business itself, economic specialists explained.

Barça Media will be listed via an intricate operation requiring a merger with Mountain & Co I Acquisition Corp, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that has been specifically created for this sole purpos .

The agreement, signed on August 11 between Barcelona and Mountain & Co I Acquisition Corp, is a 75-page document with appendix that puts a value of €900 million ($973 million) on Barça Media’s content business.

The deal has a 20-year duration, automatically extendible for a further 20 years unless there is a breach of contract.

German businessman Cornelius Boersch, the SPAC’s main shareholder who is also its promoter, controls 17.6 per cent of the shares through various companies, according to the SEC documents.

The operation will be managed by Wall Street funds Calamos Investment Trust, Highbridge Capital Management, Saba Capital Management and Glazer Capital which between them control more than half of the capital.

The SPAC had $239 million (€217.76 million) in cash on December 31 last year, with $132 million (€119.9 million) reamaining by June 30.  That sum has continued to fall during this year’s third quarter, according to national daily, El Pais.

Mountain & Co. I Acquisition Corp stressed in a presentation to potential investors that the business depends to a considerable degree on FC Barcelona’s brand and reputation together with the club’s LaLiga results and progress in UEFA competitions which include the Champions League.