Inmaculada Ibáñez talks about the financing of the new stadium

In the public presentation of the new stadium, the Financial Director of Valencia CF, Inmaculada Ibáñez, looks at the economic perspective of the project, as well as the impact and income it would have for the city of Valencia.

"How will the stadium be financed? We want to clarify the issue of the guarantees. The first thing I wanted to tell you is that, in 2015, Valencia CF deposited guarantees to the GVA according to what the agreement and the law required. These were 1.2 guarantees. I went to the bank and they told me that I had to deposit cash into an account that we could not touch, and they charged me a commission for guarantee risk. I deposited the money into the GVA. Depositing guarantees generally means immobilising money.

What we have presented is an economically viable project. I agree that the administrations are concerned with the financing of the stadium, and I am the first to be concerned, as well as the club. The project has to be financially viable, it has to have financing to both start it and to finish it.

What Valencia CF did in the summer of last year was tell LaLiga that we agreed to Plan Impulso. It was scheduled for October, but was signed in December. We were very clear that this was our chance to finish the new stadium. It provides 80 million for this project, which represents 70% of the construction cost, but in terms of time, it means that we have covered all the needs until January-June 2024. We have time to cover whatever is needed, but even so, I am going to explain to you how the project is 100% financed.

I have 6.3 million euros that I haven't used because I'm allocating it to the new stadium project and we haven't started yet. Soon, 19.5 million will be released which I will not have, because it is blocked exclusively to building the new stadium. Between June 2023 and 2024, the rest will be released, up to 80 million. There are companies that are already getting an advance on this. Other clubs that have already started their work are already getting advances on that money. The 80 million is available now, and that is a very important amount.

Regardless of that, as soon as we saw that this project was a reality, we put the tertiary areas of the new stadium and the office building up for sale and obtained offers. In fact, we are working with several of them. The main one is the tertiary areas of the new stadium. There has been a talk that it is a non-binding offer. The person who buys wants to know the metres that they are buying, and you have to give them that certainty. It is given by the activity license for the new stadium and the continuity of the ATE. They are interested, we are working, and some consultation has even been made by the Ayuntamiento City Council. With that offer, the most important thing is who buys it, how solvent they are and how they pay. Even before entering the critical date of January 2024, I need to have already collected everything. That is essential.

Regarding the office building, what we are considering is entering into negotiations with those who want to buy, when I know exactly when we are leaving it. I don't know when we are leaving until the work starts. That is the reason why the offers that we presented were not binding, but it does not mean that they are not real. It is a liquid asset, very attractive and I'm the first who doesn't want to have problems with the stadium. I've already seen problems and I've had sleepless nights."

"With the CVC financing, we anticipated that we would have a difference between collections and payments and some deviation in the project. We requested two bridge loans from Caixabank and Rights and Media. We went to them, we told them what our problem was, explained our needs and when we wanted to have them in case things did not go as well as we thought. Regarding the offers of assets that were not necessary for the club, we offered the GVA a promoter account to which the sales of the assets would go and said that the money could not be touched except for the stadium. The guarantee that this money is going to go to the project is absolute."

"We have worked with financial entities and I was with Illueca at Caixaforum. The relationship with him is phenomenal. The people at Caixabank support the project and have no doubts about it. How can Caixabank and Rights and Media not have confidence in Valencia CF? In 2007 the club contracted a very important debt, which took 10 years and has seen them paid 71.5 million. We have religiously complied with the payments, payments that cost us 20 million euros a year and are strangling us. We have to go and finish the new stadium."

We have the project 100% covered with the sale of assets and the 80 million. In addition, I have 15m and 15m with a bridging loan. The moment in which we are certain, that selling Mestalla will be a reality. We have tried to sell it, but the buyer heavily penalises the uncertainty of when you are going to move. With CVC we have that doubt cleared. I no longer need to sell before we leave. The moment the sale of Mestalla is a reality, I will deleverage, pay off the debt with Caixabank and stop paying the 20 million a year. The bank also knows that this is linked to us finishing the new stadium.

Regarding financing, I would like it to be clear that we have no obligation to pay guarantees. For loans, we made a cash deposit. If the projects in this city had to be 100% financed, nothing would ever be done. What I believe is that the project is economically viable, it is guaranteed; starting with 70m is tremendous and if you accompany that with the sale of assets, I have no doubt that the project will move forward. We are very excited. The fans will like it and it will be very important for the city. Winning a tender to host a final or a semifinal is a very important issue for cities, and you know the returns that Madrid or Seville have recently obtained. These projects have to go hand in hand. You can't host a final here if the city doesn't work hand in hand with the club, nor can we finish the stadium if we don't go hand in hand and agree on the capacity."