The Oval cricket ground, which hosts the final Ashes Test match between England and Australia this week, launched a £3.5M ($5.5M) mini bond on Monday to build a new stand, according to Malcolm Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Oval owner Surrey County Cricket Club CEO Richard Gould said, "This stand will complete the modernization of the Oval. The Peter May and Tony Lock stands, which are coming down [to be replaced by the new stand] are 30 to 40 years old. They are pretty tired with no toilets, no bar and no catering." Surrey's members were able to apply for between £2,000 ($3,100) and £250,000 ($389,600) of the bond on Monday, "with the rest of the allocation open to the public next week." The bond carries a cash coupon of 5.5%. Gould: "We sent out an email to our 10,000 members last week and we have had 1,000 expressions of interest already, so a great response." Surrey is also raising a further £6.5M ($10.1M) in bank loans to build the new stand. The club said that its revenues had "risen healthily in recent years," with £3M of income from T20 matches and £4M of revenues last year from conferencing and events. Gould: "We have been around since 1845 and our financial position is extremely solid" (FT, 8/17).
