Menu
Finance

Premiership Rugby Side London Wasps Seek To Raise $53M With Retail Bond Issue

Premiership rugby club London Wasps are seeking to raise as much as £35M ($53M) "directly from its fans and other individual investors with the issue of a retail bond on the London Stock Exchange this week," according to Judith Evans of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The 148-year-old club "is following in the footsteps of the Jockey Club, which raised almost £25M from a retail bond issue two years ago." Wasps are offering an annual return of 6.5% "on the seven-year unrated senior bond secured against the 32,600-seat Ricoh Arena in Coventry," which the club bought in '14. It is seeking to raise between £25M ($38M) and £35M from the issue. Wasps CEO David Armstrong: "I’m sure fans of the club will be interested in the bond but we think it’s attractively structured for retail investors more broadly." Owned by London-based Irish businessman Derek Richardson, the lossmaking club "is seeking to turn its fortunes round with the renovation of the Ricoh arena." Armstrong said that most of the money raised "would be used for refinancing," including repaying a £14.4M ($22M) loan from Coventry City council made to the former operators of the arena. The remainder "will go towards development of the Ricoh venue." Broker Tilney Bestinvest Research Dir Andrew Ramsbottom said, "Given the amount they want to raise and the high profile of Wasps I think a retail bond was probably the correct thing to do" (FT, 4/26).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/04/27/Finance/Wasps.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/04/27/Finance/Wasps.aspx

CLOSE