Pace/ALK set to buy Espanyol?

[boyyanno]

Well where’s the money going to come from? Are they going to turn Espanyol into Wonga FC too?

I don’t want BFC resources being used elsewhere.

I wouldn’t be bothered if Pace was a billionaire, using his own money to buy and fund Espanyol but we both know that’s likely not the case.

I don't think it will be as obvious as that but let's be honest, ALK owe us X amount already, so it could be argued that we have helped them purchase Espanyol. Don't get me wrong they must have recieved outside investment in to their group but if they owe us money and then use that money to fund somthing else then that's pretty much what has happened.

Outside of their initial expenditure to aquire the clubs I don't think they'll invest much in either (or anyone else they aquire) I think their big pay out comes from building a group of clubs, seeing increased revenue from TV deals and benefitting from the fact they've paid little of their own money for them in the long run.

I'm sure they want us to be successful and they'll want to squeeze every penny which is why they're so aggressively focused on player trading but I don't think it's where they plan to make their money long-term.

[aggi]

The latest numbers beting quoted are interesting

deal value of EUR 130m - with EUR 65m upfront and EUR 65m of shares in Velocity Sports Limited (Jersey) giving RASTAR 16.45% of VSL (which values VSL at EUR 395m)

There are reports of an opportunity for Velocity to buy back those shares for a premium that carries a built in inflation surge

RCD Espanyol football team bought by investor Velocity Sport Limited
Rastar group, current owner of club, to enter investment fund shareholders as part of deal
https://archive.ph/jWuo1

you get the impression that Velocity will be picking up the cost of funding operating losses - which has been a factor in RASTAR wanting to exit

Suggestion here that the share buy back is €81m in two to five years

https://en.ara.cat/sports/it-s-official ... l?hl=en-GB

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

And the relevance is?

Come on. You have to give them credit where its due. They have made some good decisions. Particularly managerial ones.

[ClaretTony]

Come on. You have to give them credit where its due. They have made some good decisions. Particularly managerial ones.

Which is not relevant to the point I was making

[Chester Perry]

I think it was pretty different. From what I remember Garlick and John B kept some of their shares in BFC Holdings post the initial takeover.

ringfenced for a fixed price until October 2024 - of course they were disposed of on 15th November 2022 as part of a renegotiated deal in April 2022 (my sources claim for a very nominal fee) some were then flipped to Vlad Torgovnik at significant profit - the other sellers still have theirs

[Paul Waine]

not if funds are transferred via inter company loans in the way we have seen previously - it is key that that RCD Espanyol now fall under Velocity Sports Ltd (Jersey) the entity that wholly owns the shareholding in Velocity Capital (UK) Limited the entity that owns 82.7% of Burnley FC Holdings Limited and owes the club circa £97m

in this structure monies can flow up across and down quite legally

I'm pretty sure that the reason for Velocity Sports Ltd (Jersey) owning both (via intermediate companies) Burnley Football Club and RCD Espanyol is all to do with US investors investing in non-US businesses and the US tax implications of their investments.

Of course, ALK/VSP could have used different corporate structures to hold their investments in BFC and RCDE, but they would have been less efficient from a US investment perspective. And, if less efficient, then that also means more expensive, thus fewer opportunities to achieve the investment returns they are aiming for.

For avoidance of doubt, money can quite legally flow "up across and down" between an entity in the UK and another entity in Spain via the entity that owns both of them in the US. Similarly, money can flow quite legally from any entity in country A to any entity in country B - think, for example, of a football player being sold by a club in the UK to a club in a South American country - and the money being paid by the buying club to the selling club in the UK (or the reverse).

[Chester Perry]

Suggestion here that the share buy back is €81m in two to five years

https://en.ara.cat/sports/it-s-official ... l?hl=en-GB

a slightly smaller number than in the other article

I have archived your link for future reference

Chen sells Espanyol, but not definitively
Velocity Sport Limited, led by American Alan Pace, will be the majority shareholder of the blue and white club after paying 130 million.
https://archive.ph/mtoz4

[ClaretPete001]

The numbers are startlingly similar! And this is exactly how I expected our deal was done (shares swapped for shares/units in ALKs structure - at least until buy out).

It would not shock me if our previous owners are still invested somewhere down the line.

The bit I’m unsure about is whether this has been bought with debt or a fundraising. CP’s post yesterday suggested AP has been significantly diluted.

The detail is different but in terms of an investment strategy it feels quite similar

[gandhisflipflop]

The big question here is why are we buying a blue and white club?!

[Paul Waine]

Interesting article by Martin Samuel in the Times today.

Posting it here because it addresses football, football finances, all the new club owners and all the new football competitions.

Football will always be the 90 minutes — it will rise above the noise
Donald Trump giving Club World Cup trophy to Chelsea is yet another bone of contention but don’t let him, Gianni Infantino or anything else stop you enjoying sport you love
Martin Samuel, Tuesday July 15 2025, 7.50pm, The Times

https://www.thetimes.com/article/946e9d ... fd53f1ce4c

It's a full page article. The link should give you access without being blocked by the pay wall.

[Venkys4eva]

I dont know if this has been posted before

https://sportwitness.co.uk/burnley-owne ... purchases/

[Steddyman]

Another new article:

https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2025/ ... anyol.html

[Row x]

Another new article:

https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2025/ ... anyol.html

Interesting article
Far to positive for a lot on here though.

[123EasyasBFC]

The club have just put a video on YouTube of the squad in Portugal and Alan pace is there, how can that be right when he is focusing all his time on Espanyol and spending his time there and taking focus off Burnley

[ClaretPete001]

The club have just put a video on YouTube of the squad in Portugal and Alan pace is there, how can that be right when he is focusing all his time on Espanyol and spending his time there and taking focus off Burnley

He could have jetted in and jetted out for the video shoot. I know people who get on planes to go to London for a 2 hour meeting: who knows?

If people want to use AI generated scraper articles and PR videos as some form of truth so be it.

Personally, I would go with the people who live and breathe the club on here and who have tracked the finances for years and read the debates and argumentation. People irritate you - I even irritate myself but it's worth it to see a breadth of opinions.

[123EasyasBFC]

He could have jetted in and jetted out for the video shoot. I know people who get on planes to go to London for a 2 hour meeting: who knows?

If people want to use AI generated scraper articles and PR videos as some form of truth so be it.

Personally, I would go with the people who live and breathe the club on here and who have tracked the finances for years and read the debates and argumentation. People irritate you - I even irritate myself but it's worth it to see a breadth of opinions.

That’s kind of what I was getting at, the sports witness article was purely guess work and people lumped on the ownership straight away

[IanMcL]

Koleosho to Espanyol is the latest rumours.

[Chester Perry]

It is worth noting that approval for this deal by both RASTAR shareholders and the Spanish football authorities has still to happen and may not do so until after the transfer window closes according to the reports that have been shared through this thread.

[NewClaret]

you are being triggered by the number 65 only it is euros not sterling

The structure is quite different with the only similarity being a ringfence on non-acquired shareholding with a fixed price for a transfer at a future date

If Garlick was involved in Velocity the acquisition of Cheltenham would have been challenged

I am unsure how you arrived at the conclusion of AP's holding being diluted - other than by the long list of investors in Velocity - His position at ALK Capital appears either unchanged or stronger

- the key in regards to Velocity is that the more partners that come on board the greater the level of control he is able to exert due to the nature of the different share types

- it is very unlikely that partners in Velocity will be allocated Management Shares in Velocity Sports Ltd (Jersey)

- we know that Velocity Capital (UK) holdings ltd had circa £80m less than two years ago and more investors have come on board since

Forgot to reply, sorry CT.

Good point re Cheltenham, I’d forgotten that. Although again, wouldn’t shock me if ALK shares were in his wife’s name or whatever. I’m not saying he is though, just it wouldn’t shock me because of the nature of the structure.

I thought you’d said AP had been diluted from +50% to >25% in one of the companies (I lose track of where they all are in the structure). Did I misunderstand?

[Chester Perry]

Forgot to reply, sorry CT.

Good point re Cheltenham, I’d forgotten that. Although again, wouldn’t shock me if ALK shares were in his wife’s name or whatever. I’m not saying he is though, just it wouldn’t shock me because of the nature of the structure.

I thought you’d said AP had been diluted from +50% to >25% in one of the companies (I lose track of where they all are in the structure). Did I misunderstand?

It is the phrasing on the BFC Company Details statement - if you read it quickly that can be how you see it, though in reality what is being said is essentially unchanged from the previous statement there.

I have said it a number of times over the years - they are really good at statements that can be easily mis-interpreted if care is not taken in the reading

[LaLigaClaret]

I wonder what the position is regarding EUFA's finacial regulations and available cash at Espanyol as I can see the possibility for a bit of creative thinking for Burnley. It was reported that Alan Pace will be in charge of transfer until the end of August in Spain. Is it a possibility that Burnley will "sell" some players to Espanyol at better than expected prices to create extra income for Burnley to help buy the players we need, say Kolesheo, Ekdaland Benson. In addition we might loan up to 3 players to them, perhaps those who need to get match fit and back into playing possibly Beyer, Tresor, Ramsay etc and then move 3 players in on free signings to Espanyol say Aygei, Dodgson, Sambo. This would reduce our squad size, reduce our wage bill and at the same time let Espanyol develop those freebies further to sell on the following season and bring in some of the money they used in buying our players this season. I don't know the cash situation at Espanyol but they allow up to 3 players from one team to be loaned there and there might be some additional creative thought that gives us more money for players.

[Rileybobs]

I wonder what the position is regarding EUFA's finacial regulations and available cash at Espanyol as I can see the possibility for a bit of creative thinking for Burnley. It was reported that Alan Pace will be in charge of transfer until the end of August in Spain. Is it a possibility that Burnley will "sell" some players to Espanyol at better than expected prices to create extra income for Burnley to help buy the players we need, say Kolesheo, Ekdaland Benson. In addition we might loan up to 3 players to them, perhaps those who need to get match fit and back into playing possibly Beyer, Tresor, Ramsay etc and then move 3 players in on free signings to Espanyol say Aygei, Dodgson, Sambo. This would reduce our squad size, reduce our wage bill and at the same time let Espanyol develop those freebies further to sell on the following season and bring in some of the money they used in buying our players this season. I don't know the cash situation at Espanyol but they allow up to 3 players from one team to be loaned there and there might be some additional creative thought that gives us more money for players.

I think people are hugely over-estimating the volume of player trading which will take place between BFC and Espanyol.

[Claretnick]

The first communication from the chairman of Burnley FC to the Espanyol fans...
https://x.com/AlanPaceBFC/status/1946587139853942905

[Paul Waine]

The first communication from the chairman of Burnley FC to the Espanyol fans...
https://x.com/AlanPaceBFC/status/1946587139853942905

Important post. Alan Pace studied in Barcelona. We should assume he speaks good Spanish. We should assume he understands a little of the culture of Espanyol fans. It's important for everyone to understand, agreeing the deal is one thing, but everything else depends on regulatory approval, just like it did when Alan Pace/ALK/Velocity Sports bought Burnley.

UTC

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

Not YET official.

[Juan Tanamera]

As Spike Milligan once said to Prince Charles, "Grovelling Barsteward"

[Chester Perry]

It will be interesting to see if this approach continues once the deal goes through - certainly different to what has happened at our club

Espanyol’s Fran Garagarza on the Eibar miracle, his time at Wolves and the long-term vision as Burnley owners invest
Espanyol can plan for a brighter future following investment through a ‘strategic alliance’ with Burnley. Speaking to Sky Sports on the eve of that news, sporting director Fran Garagarza explains how a new vision has turned the club's fortunes around
https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... ers-invest
https://archive.ph/ETIdC

[LaLigaClaret]

I think people are hugely over-estimating the volume of player trading which will take place between BFC and Espanyol.

Yes your probably right, however the question I pose is this. Is it still a technical possibility that Burnley could utilise the Espanyol deal to its advantage in the way I suggest ? I don't like the multi-club ownership model but that is the way the football world is going so if we can use it to our advantage we should as we can't allow us to fall further and further behind the curve.

[Rileybobs]

Yes your probably right, however the question I pose is this. Is it still a technical possibility that Burnley could utilise the Espanyol deal to its advantage in the way I suggest ? I don't like the multi-club ownership model but that is the way the football world is going so if we can use it to our advantage we should as we can't allow us to fall further and further behind the curve.

Yes it is possible that BFC could take advantage of the situation to evade financial rules, as could Espanyol. But I see this as more of an incidental benefit, whereas our owners purchasing a second club will be with the primary intention of benefiting themselves.

[LaLigaClaret]

Its a lovely thought that owners would actually really think of benefitting their club before themselves but this is a situation that existed a very long time ago. Today its a business, big business and money and influence the first priority. Burnley have done extremely well recently with good managers/coaches, brilliant players and team spirit but without ALK where would we be. Its all very well saying someone else would have been better as owners but where were they when they were needed and how do you know they would be any different.

[Darnhill Claret]

If the top clubs use their financial muscle to remain as a top club, we either fall much further behind, or we find a way to stay in the top 20/23 clubs.
I don't think we can do this by playing safe!!

[Rileybobs]

Its a lovely thought that owners would actually really think of benefitting their club before themselves but this is a situation that existed a very long time ago. Today its a business, big business and money and influence the first priority. Burnley have done extremely well recently with good managers/coaches, brilliant players and team spirit but without ALK where would we be. Its all very well saying someone else would have been better as owners but where were they when they were needed and how do you know they would be any different.

I don’t expect any owner to not profit from owning the club. Why shouldn’t they? My point is that I think some people are overstating the benefit to BFC and reason why our owners are purchasing another club. They are not doing this to benefit BFC by taking advantage of inter-company transfers - they are doing this to grow their company and make more money. BFC might get an Espanyol player on loan somewhere along the way, and vice versa, but this isn’t a major factor in Pace buying Espanyol.