FC Barcelona unit to list in US via $1 billion SPAC deal

:Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona has agreed to list its content creation unit Barca Media on Nasdaq through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, valuing the combined entity at $1 billion.

The club said on Friday the deal will fetch new capital for Barca Media, a segment that FC Barcelona expects will be "an important source of revenue in the coming years".

FC Barcelona's president Joan Laporta, who was re-elected in 2021 to lead the club out of an institutional and financial crisis, has been looking to develop new avenues to generate additional revenue.

Laporta, who presided over one of FC Barcelona's most successful periods from 2003 to 2010, inherited a club deep in financial distress, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shock exit of storied soccer star Lionel Messi in 2021 also added to the club's troubles. But since taking over, Laporta has tried to improve the club's financial situation and brought in new sponsors.

Barca Media will start trading on Nasdaq after the deal with Mountain & Co I Acquisition Corp closes in the last quarter of this year, FC Barcelona said.

Existing shareholders of Barca Media will retain an 80 per cent stake in the unit, assuming none of the blank-check company's shareholders redeem their shares and no further capital is raised.

A special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), also known as a blank-check company, is a listed entity that merges with a private firm to take it public. Such shell companies help companies avoid the longer route of an initial public offering.