TURIN, Italy (AP) — Hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, Serie A club Juventus on Wednesday moved a step closer to receiving a cash injection of up to 400 million euros ($475 million) by issuing new shares in the club.
The Juventus board approved a proposal for the new share issue, having already signed a pre-underwriting agreement with several major financial institutions — including Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan — last month.
“The Capital Increase is part of the measures to address the significant economic and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and will help strengthen the Company’s equity and balance funding resources,” Juventus said in a statement.
Juventus saw its record run of nine straight Serie A titles ended last season by Inter Milan, and it was also part of the ill-fated European Super League project.
Juventus is owned by the Agnelli family through holding company Exor N.V.
In February, Juventus announced losses of 113.7 million euros ($134.9 million) for the first six months of the 2020-21 season.
Questions had already been raised about the sustainability of Juventus’ business model following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2018 for a club-record fee of more than 100 million euros ($119 million).
Ronaldo was signed with the aim of winning the Champions League but Juventus has not gone past the quarterfinals since his arrival and was eliminated in the round of 16 the past two seasons.
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