Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez will mention today in the assembly of socios compromisarios a structural change to ensure the club's sustainability. This initiative, announced a year ago, explores options like partial conversion to a public limited company or using financial 'levers'. The discussion arises amid overruns in the Bernabéu remodelation and a rising budget.
In the last Assembly, Florentino Pérez unveiled plans to transform Real Madrid, turning socios into socios-accionistas and enabling economic growth through partial conversion of the club into a mercantile society. The goal is to preserve the team's independence and sustainability, though the specific model was not detailed. Pérez promised to present the proposal to the compromisarios soon, but legal and fiscal complications have delayed the process.
Today, in his opening speech, Pérez will allude to the topic again, even though it is not on the agenda, suggesting it may require an Extraordinary Assembly. Consultations with prestigious law firms did not resolve the original idea of dividing the club: depositing the majority in the Foundation and distributing shares among the socios, similar to the Bayern de Múnich model. However, this would mean socios paying taxes on the received shares.
The overruns in the Santiago Bernabéu remodelation, amounting to 1.347 million euros so far—more than double the 575 million budgeted in 2018—have intensified the internal debate. As an alternative, the club is considering 'levers', such as creating mercantile societies to exploit commercial aspects without changing the Madrid's legal nature. In 2021, Real Madrid Estadio SL was established to manage the stadium and parkings, though currently halted by legal actions. These entities would allow attracting investors, possibly for 10% of the club's value, estimated by Pérez at 10,000 million euros, injecting up to 1,000 million, provided benefits revert to the sports project.
Today's assembly will approve last season's accounts, with 24 million in profits, and the current budget of 1.248 million euros, a 63-million increase driven by 402 million from stadium exploitation. Pérez has not held prior meetings with compromisarios, but the club urges high attendance given the event's importance.