Sporting SAD’s €225M bond issue: advisors
Sporting SAD and its subsidiary Sporting Entertainment have completed a major corporate and financial restructuring, which included the reorganisation of the commercial operations of Estádio José Alvalade and the Alvaláxia Shopping Centre, and the consolidation of all entertainment-related business lines under Sporting Entertainment. As part of this restructuring, Sporting Entertainment completed a €225 million private placement of bonds with U.S. institutional investors, organised by J.P. Morgan. Sporting SAD and Sporting Entertainment were advised by PLMJ, while the international investors were avised by Morais Leitão.
The 28-year bond issue, bearing a fixed interest rate of 5.75%, aims to finance and refinance investments associated with Estádio José Alvalade transformation project, fund the ongoing operations of Sporting Entertainment, and repay existing debt of Sporting SAD. The issuance was 8.5 times oversubscribed and obtained investment-grade ratings from DBRS (BBB) and Fitch (BBB-).
The transaction also enabled the early repayment of the securitisation “Lion Finance No. 2”, under which Sporting had previously assigned receivables from its television rights contract with NOS, contributing to an improved debt structure across the Sporting Group.
PLMJ advised Sporting SAD and Sporting Entertainment on the corporate reorganisation, the bond issuance, and the debt restructuring. The multidisciplinary team was led by partners Gonçalo dos Reis Martins (banking and finance, capital markets) and Tomás Almeida Ribeiro (corporate M&A). The team also included: João Terrinha, Kathleen Barley, Tiago Jesus Bento, and Diogo Angeiras Leitão from banking and finance and capital markets; Leonor Melo Bento and Tiago Belinha from corporate M&A; Francisco Lino Dias, partner in real estate and tourism, and Maria Sanches Afonso from the same team; Dinis Tracana, partner in tax; and Hugo Monteiro de Queirós, partner and head of intellectual property.
Morais Leitão acted for the international investors in the bond placement, with a team led by partner Maria Soares do Lago, supported by Filipe Lowndes Marques and Anna Zemskaia.
On the picture from left to right, Gonçalo dos Reis, Tomás Almeida Ribeiro and Maria Soares do Lago.
