The Securities Market Commission (CMVM) ordered the suspension of trading in Futebol Clube do Porto – Futebol, SAD shares, “awaiting the disclosure of relevant information to the market”, it was announced in a statement.
“The Board of Directors of the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) determined on 02/Apr/2024 at 09:25 (UTC), in accordance with article 214 and paragraph b) of paragraph 2 of article 213 of the Securities Code, the suspension of trading in Futebol Clube do Porto – Futebol, SAD shares, pending the disclosure of relevant information to the market”, says the statement.
The market regulator’s statement comes one day after the president of the club and the SAD board of directors, Pinto da Costa, said, in interview with SIC and SIC Notícias, that will not leave FC Porto hostage to investment funds and that André Villas-Boas, candidate for president of the “dragons”, will have society was asked about structuring businesses.
Pinto da Costa, who included the Quadrantis manager in the re-candidacy for the elections of national football runners-up, said that the club will not be held hostage by investment funds.
“Of course not. That was absurd. An individual lends money to FC Porto, FC Porto needs the loan and is highly benefited by the interest payments it is already paying and I am now going to distrust anyone who helps me? There is no shortage of to whom this fund wants to lend much larger amounts of money”, he explained.
Designated as a candidate for vice-president of the club for the financial area by the Pinto da Costa list, if the leader is re-elected on April 27, businessman João Rafael Koehler is the founder and administrator of the venture capital management company Quadrantis.
This company includes the company Connect Capital, which signed a loan of 14.5 million euros to FC Porto SAD in April 2023, the maturity date of which will be until January 2029, as stated in the latest report and half-yearly accounts of the ‘dragons ‘.
The Connect Capital loan and possible additional revenue anticipation operations that may have as counterpart funds held by Quadrantis were mentioned by André Villas-Boas, former coach and electoral opponent of Pinto da Costa, in a letter sent on March 14 to the administration of FC Porto SAD, to which Lusa had access on Monday.
In response to the CMVM statementFC Porto’s SAD reveals the expectation of raising up to 70 million euros, by June, with the negotiation of the exploitation of Estádio do Dragão, as well as the renegotiation of medium and long-term debt.
In a statement sent to the regulator, the “blue and white” sports society reiterates the statements made by president Pinto da Costa in the interview with SIC.
FC Porto SAD stated its expectation of “definitively closing the contract with a reputable international company, with recognized experience in optimizing commercial revenues related to major sports equipment, by June 30, 2024”.
“As this partnership is embodied in a minority stake in one of the companies with the commercial rights of the FC Porto group, through the injection of capital for an estimated amount of between 60 and 70 million euros, as previously communicated to the market, the company will thus increase own capital in the same amount”, reads the aforementioned statement.
The SAD of the “dragons” further informs that despite not having yet closed financing in this regard, FC Porto – Futebol, SAD is negotiating a reformulation of its medium and long-term debt, in an estimated amount of 250 million euros , at a competitive interest rate in market terms”.
On March 28th, the last day they traded, FC Porto SAD shares closed stable at 1.15 euros, with 20 shares changing hands.
