- Italian soccer giant Juventus looks to sell €150 million of bonds ($169 million; £132 million) to cash in on success of star player Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Ronaldo signed for Juventus in summer 2018 for around $130 million, and has been a sporting and commercial success.
- He has scored 20 goals in 31 appearances, and Juventus' share price has close to doubled since his transfer.
- Other soccer teams, including Manchester United and Inter Milan, have raised money through bond issuances in recent years.
Italian soccer giant Juventus is looking to a novel new means of cashing in on its star asset, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, by issuing a multimillion euro bond to investors.
According to a report from Bloomberg which cites a person familiar with the matter, Italy's most successful team plans to sell €150 million of bonds ($169 million; £132 million)
Morgan Stanley and Italian lender UBI Banca will manage the sale, Bloomberg added, citing the same person.
Juventus' bond issuance follows in the footsteps of other soccer giants like Italian rival Inter Milan, and UK-based behemoth Manchester United. Inter sold around €300 million ($339 million; £263 million). of five-year dated debt in late 2017.
Ronaldo is one of the most marketable assets in all of global sports. After a €90 million from Spain's Real Madrid to Turin-based Juventus in the summer of 2018, the club saw its share price more than double in around 10 weeks.
At the time, it climbed from €0.69 ($0.81) on July 3, when credible transfer rumors were first reported across Europe, to €1.57 ($1.84) by early September after a few weeks of the Serie A season.
The club's stock price has since moderated somewhat, but remains around 95% higher than in the days before Ronaldo's signing.
Other commercial successes related to Ronaldo's signing include increased ticket revenues for the club, and a huge rise in the number of replica jerseys sold bearing the player's name. According to reports, 520,000 shirts were sold in just 24 hours after his signing — approximately $62.4 million worth of trade.
Ronaldo has also been a major success on the field, scoring 20 goals and creating 10 in just 31 appearances so far this season.