Oporto
The soccer club has officially announced that it has signed a 25-year contract with Ithaca
Dragon Stadium
Commercial development contract involving the transfer of a 30% economic interest in the Porto Stadium Company to Ithaca, with a total value of up to €100 million.
Porto Official Announcement
FC Porto and Ithaca signed a two-year agreement on April 18 for the commercial development of the Dragon Stadium. The contract involves the transfer of a 30% economic interest in a company in the pipeline, Stadium Porto, to Ithaca.
The Porto Stadium Company will be created through a separation from the Porto Commercial Company and will be responsible for the management of revenues and operating costs including ticketing, corporate hospitality, naming rights, stadium-related sponsorship contracts, museums, tours, and non-sporting event organization, as well as other existing or future revenue-generating opportunities related to the Chiron Stadium.
In a supplemental agreement to the original contract, the new management retained a 70% stake in the Stade de Porto company and increased the amount it could receive to €35 million.
If specific EBITDA targets are met in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years, the total amount could reach €100 million. This amount has now been increased from €40 million to €50 million.
In addition, the supplementary agreement includes an option to buy back the shares transferred to Ithaca at the end of the 10th and 15th years of the contract, enabling FC Porto to recover its full economic interest in Stade de Porto, Inc. at both points in time.
In the same renegotiation, the possibility was also identified that FC Porto could issue debt based on the 70 per cent economic interest it continues to hold in the Stade Porto company. To this end, FC Porto will also establish a new company whose sole asset will be the entire shareholding of the Stade Porto company, which will seek to issue bonds to institutional investors.
It is worth emphasizing that during this 25-year partnership, FC Porto will maintain control and management of the operation of the Dragon Stadium, while collaborating with a renowned partner with extensive experience in the management of large-scale infrastructures and full ownership of the stadium.
At the end of this period, or if it is decided to exercise the aforementioned buy-back option earlier, FC Porto will recover 100% of the economic interest in the Dragon Stadium.
It is expected that this partnership will be launched at the start of the next sporting season, with improvements to the boxes and hospitality facilities beginning to be visible within one to two years. The partnership is not only expected to enhance FC Porto's commercial revenues, but will also further strengthen the infrastructure and operational capacity of the Dragon Stadium.
