06.01.2010
Man City reveal scale of Sheikh Mansour's investment
Manchester City's Carlos Tevez celebrates after scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers during their Premier League match at Molineux Stadium. Financial records show that new owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nayan has invested 395 million pounds in a bid to transform Manchester City into a leading force in European football.
They reveal that the Sheikh has invested 395 million pounds in the club by converting loans of 305 million pounds into equity before buying further shares of just under 90 million.
In the year to the end of May 2009, City registered an operating loss of 92.6 million pounds, the second largest registered by an English club behind the 140 million pound figure registered by Chelsea in 2005.
The operating loss came in a year in which City broke the British transfer record by spending 32.5 million pounds on bringing Robinho to the club.
City's chief financial and administration officer Graham Wallace said that, despite the huge losses, the club was generating increased revenues and aimed to balance the books over the longer term.
"The financial results reflect a period of rapid change at the club, the result of long-term planning and investment by the Board and our owners, to create a sustainable business in the future," Wallace said.
"We have always said that this transformation will take a number of years and these figures reflect that."
Mansour's conversion of his investment into equity mirrors the approach taken by Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and underlines the much stronger financial position City find themselves in compared to Liverpool and Manchester United, both of whom have been saddled with the burden of financing the huge debts incurred by their current owners during their purchases of the clubs.
Wallace added: "The owners' decision to convert debt to equity is in line with their previously-stated financial strategy and is fantastic news for supporters of Manchester City, whose club is now on a secure financial foundation that gives a tremendous platform to build from in future years."
Source: © 2010 AFP - Ian Kington
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