£82m Nottingham Forest move as Evangelos Marinakis acts ahead of new Premier League cash rules
Owner Evangelos Marinakis has converted £82 million worth of loans to Nottingham Forest into shares.
It is a move the Greek businessman has made regularly since taking over in 2017, in an ongoing show of commitment to the Reds. Converting the loans into equity takes the debt off the club and is viewed as an indication of Marinakis’ investment in Forest.
A “statement of capital following an allotment of shares” has been published on the Companies House website outlining the club's financial business. It details how £82m worth of loans have been converted into 8.2 billion 1p shares.
The statement reads: “The shares were issued and allotted pursuant to the capitalisation of a debt in the sum of £82,155,056 due to the acquirer of the shares. The shares were converted at nominal value and no premium was attached to the shares.”
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained the move on social media. He wrote: “This means that there will be no interest charged on the loans when the new APT rules kick in on interest free owner loans in a couple of weeks.”
In the near-eight years he has been at the helm at the City Ground, Marinakis has converted large amounts of debt into equity. He converted £11m worth of loans into shares in December 2023, £41m worth of loans into shares in the 2021/22 financial year, a similar conversion of £12m in 2020/21 and more than £20m in 2019/20.
In November, Premier League clubs voted to amend sponsorship rules despite calls from Manchester City for a delay. The reigning champions challenged the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules, which assess whether deals between clubs and entities linked to their ownership represent fair market value, on competition law grounds earlier this year.
An arbitration panel found aspects of them unlawful, which City insisted makes the entire set of rules “void” until the panel provides further guidance. The Premier League instead consulted with clubs over amendments.
The Premier League went on to confirm clubs had approved amendments to the rules, which the league believes now makes them lawful. This includes adding shareholder loans to the fair market value (FMV) assessment, the removal of some of the amendments made to APT rules earlier this year and changes to how clubs access the league’s databank which is used to make FMV decisions.
At the time, a statement from the Premier League said: “The amendments to the rules address the findings of an arbitration tribunal following a legal challenge by Manchester City to the APT system earlier this year. The Premier League has conducted a detailed consultation with clubs – informed by multiple opinions from expert, independent leading counsel – to draft rule changes that address amendments required to the system.
“This relates to integrating the assessment of shareholder loans, the removal of some of the amendments made to APT rules earlier this year and changes to the process by which relevant information from the league’s ‘databank’ is shared with a club’s advisors. The purpose of the APT rules is to ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at fair market value (FMV) by virtue of relationships with associated parties. These rules were introduced to provide a robust mechanism to safeguard the financial stability, integrity and competitive balance of the league.”
