Borussia Dortmund to buy back stadium

Six-time German champions Borussia Dortmund reached a deal to buy back their stadium from the Molsiris group, which had been leasing the venue since 2004.
 
Dortmund agreed to pay Molsiris, part of the Commerzbank, EUR 57.2 million for a majority 51.2 percent stake in the stadium. The club received EUR 22 million from US investment bank Morgan Stanley to finance the deal.
 
“This is an important step in Dortmund's financial reconstruction,” said Dortmund business leader Hans-Joachim Watzke.
 
In October 2000, Dortmund became the first German club to go public on the stock market, but gambled on playing regular Champions League football.  The 1997 Champions League winners now have estimated debts of EUR 134.7 million and barely avoided bankruptcy in March of this year.
 
The club were forced to sell the name to their Westfalen Stadium to stay afloat with the venue now called the Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund's 83,000 capacity stadium is one of the 12 World Cup venues hosting six matches at the tournament.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.