Rugby union club Wasps wants to become the first sports team to issue a retail bond on the London Stock Exchange, in a bid to raise up to £35m. The bonds, which can be purchased until 6 May, have a fixed coupon rate of 6.5 per cent and will pay interest twice a year until 2022, when they mature.
Wasps, one of 12 clubs in the English Premiership, was based in London for most of its history, but now plays its home games at the Ricoh Arena stadium in Coventry. The launch of the bond offering comes amid wider transformation at the club, which acquired the 32,600-seater Ricoh Arena and complex last October.
The bonds will be secured over the assets of the club and the complex, the latter of which is valued at £48.5m and which, in addition to a sports ground, is also home to a casino, a hotel, a shopping centre and an indoor facility that can host up to 12,000 people. As part of the club's push to build a leading multipurpose venue, chief executive David Armstrong is focused on the expansion of the stadium as a major Midlands-based music arena, and new opportunities for sponsorship.