Barcelona to sue Libero over non-payment of €40 million

Having not received the €40 million payment from Libero, Barcelona are set to take legal action against them, reports EFE, via SPORT.

Barcelona entered into an agreement with Libero during the summer wherein a percentage of stake in Barça Vision was sold to the investors in exchange for €60 million.

However, the German Fund has paid only €20 million of the total sum they pledged, with delays becoming a norm.

Initially, it was expected to arrive before the summer transfer window closed, but nothing came of it. Now, the Blaugrana had set a deadline of December 31 for Libero to honour the agreement and make the payment for the remaining €40 million.

But, the deadline is upon us and the payment has still not been made, prompting the reigning La Liga champions to take legal actions against the German investors.

As per the report, steps have already been taken to begin legal measures against Libero for their non-payment of the €40 million due.

At the same time, the Catalan giants are already looking for other potential investors to purchase the 10% stake in Barça Vision that is currently owned by Libero.

Earlier this week, it was reported that club president Joan Laporta might try to find some interested parties during his trip to Dubai.

Initially, Barcelona sold 49% of Barça Vision, the company in charge of the creation, production, and commercialisation of the club’s entire audiovisual content, to Orpheus Media and Socios.com, in exchange for €200 million.

However, last summer, Libero and NIPA repurchased 29.5% of this 49%, to reactivate this ‘lever’ in exchange for €120 million.

With that deal, Barcelona continued to be the majority shareholder in Barça Vision with 51% while the new investors owned a 29.5% stake. Meanwhile, Orpheus Media and Socios.com held on to 9.75% each.

But with Libero not coming forward with the payment for their share, legal action will be taken against them while new investors will also be sought.