Barcelona sell further 15% of La Liga TV rights to Sixth Street

Barcelona have activated a second ‘lever’ of their financial recovery plan, selling a further 15% stake of their La Liga television rights to Sixth Street.

The global investment company already has a 10% stake and will now own 25% of the rights in total for the next 25 years.

The transaction received majority support from members as Barca’s Extraordinary General Assembly last June.

“We continue to advance our strategy and are delighted to have completed this additional agreement with Sixth Street which provides us with a significant increase in our financial strength,” club president Joan Laporta said.

“Over the past few weeks, we and Sixth Street have engaged and collaborated with a shared understanding of what we seek to accomplish for our organisation, and we look forward to a great long-term partnership.”

“FC Barcelona is one of the world’s leading sporting organisations, and we are delighted to expand our relationship through this additional investment,” said Alan Waxman, co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street.

“Our flexibility and cross-platform expertise continue to be of value to management teams as they seek to execute highly strategic initiatives.”

The money freed up from the transaction could help Barca continue their busy transfer window, and 90min understands that discussions over a third lever were held during Sixth Street’s visit to Spain.

The Catalan giants have already signed Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, as well as Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha for over £100m combined once add-ons are taken into account.

They are keen to press on with further recruitment too, exploring deals for Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta and Jules Kounde – although the latter is a primary transfer target for Chelsea.