Israeli multinational to buy Atletico Madrid stake in ¬50 million deal

Published on: 16 November 2017

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Atletico Madrid will launch a rights issue with the financial aid of "an important Israeli multinational" which will acquire a 15 percent stake for €50 million (£44.6m), club president Enrique Cerezo has said.

Cerezo, Atletico's majority shareholder along with chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin, announced on Thursday that their shares would fall from 72.5 percent to 65 percent after the deal.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, which owns the naming rights to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, is to remain the second-largest shareholder but its stake will drop from 20 percent to 17 percent.

The rights issue will not have an impact on minority shareholders, who will continue to hold their three percent stake.

"We've spent almost a year speaking to investors who want to buy shares in the club, and this morning the board approved the incorporation of 15 percent of an important company, a multinational," Cerezo told Onda Cero radio.

"It's an important Israeli group that, among other businesses, deals in oil, and it is the one that interested us the most of all the groups we dealt with."

El Pais reported that businessman Idan Ofer is behind the purchase, but that has not been confirmed by the club.

Atletico had debts of €483m on June 30, 2016, and are under financial pressure to increase their capital after spending €310m on the 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano.

The club announced on Thursday that they had signed a three-year contract extension with Israeli trading platform Plus 500, their shirt sponsor since 2015, to run until 2021.

Atletico captain Gabi said: "It's thanks to them, among other things, that this team keeps growing."

Atletico, fourth in the Liga table and eight points adrift of leaders Barcelona, face Real Madrid at home on Saturday.

Adriana Garcia is a Valencia-based football writer who covers La Liga for ESPN FC.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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