Aston Villa owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris plan to bankroll the entirety of the Villa Park redevelopment project, sources have told Football Insider.
The expansion, which is due to cost in the region of £100million, will see 7,400 seats added to the 125-year-old stadium, taking capacity beyond 50,000.
Edens and Sawiris acquired Villa Park through their NSWE Stadium Ltd company in 2019, paying £57m for the privilege.
Aston Villa today welcomed Birmingham City Council's decision to grant planning permission for phase one of the club's redevelopment and expansion of Villa Park.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 22, 2022
A financial source has now told Football Insider that the investment duo will fund the revamp rather than approach a private lender, with work scheduled to begin later this year.
There are also no plans to use the credit facility the club agreed with Barclays in July last year, which was designed to help cover day-to-day cash flow rather than fund capital expenditure projects.
Similar projects have seen the local council provide a loan with a favourable interest rate, but Villa’s bean counters are confident their owners’ wealth means they have no need to enter into a deal with any debt attached.
Planning permission has already been granted for the project, which will focus on the North Stand but will also see improvements made to the Trinity Stand and surrounding facilities.
The upgrades will allow Villa to host matches at the 2028 European Championship, while also placating at least some of the supporters on the 25,000-strong waiting list for season tickets.
Infrastructure costs are exempt from both the Premier League and Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations, meaning Villa’s recruitment and retention budget should not be impacted by the owners’ decision to self-fund.
Edens and Sawiris have generally chosen to inject money into the club in the form of share issues since their takeover from Tony Xia in 2018.
There has been £98.5m pumped in through this route in the last six months alone.
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By: Adam Williams, Finance & Governance Correspondent
Title: Exclusive: Edens and Sawiris to personally bankroll £100m Aston Villa makeover
Sourced From: www.footballinsider247.com/aston-villa-owners-to-bankroll-100m-masterplan-sources/
Published Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 07:00:00 +0000
