The All England Lawn Tennis Club revealed on Friday that "it would put up for sale in April at least 1,000 No. 1 Court" '17-21 debentures -- alongside the Centre Court equivalents for '16-20 -- to raise £25M ($36.3M) toward the "cost of a retractable roof and an extra 900 seats in the championship’s second largest arena," according to Hugo Greenhalgh of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Each debenture to the 11,500-capacity court "guarantees a seat for the first 10 days of the championship for the next five years." Prices "will be released in April," but the last allocation, which ran from '12, were sold for £13,700. The sale is "drawing the attention of investors who keep a keen eye on the secondary market for the fully tradable investments." Official Wimbledon market-maker Numis "recently sold a pair of Centre Court debentures" -- issued last year for £50,000 -- for £137,500 each. Numis Head of Retail Capital Markets Trading Tim Webb said, "They're trading at a hefty premium." But he "warned the price does fluctuate throughout the year." Debentures "were first issued" in 1920 to raise £100,000 -- approximately £4.5M ($6.5M) in today’s money -- to "help purchase the land and fund the construction of a new stadium at the club’s south-west London home in Church Road" (FT, 2/12).
