By Ian Grant
Arsene Wenger said this day is one of the most important in Arsenal’s history.
Reason: Ashburton Properties has obtained a £260million loan facility from a stadium facilities banking group comprising The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Espirito Santo Investment, The Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks PLC, CIT Group Structured Finance (UK) Limited and HSH Nordbank AG.
ANR understands that RBOS and Espirito will also provide a standby facility of up to £15.4 million to cover unforeseen contingencies.
Director Danny Fiszman said: “We believe we have now effectively concluded the pre-construction phase of the project and secured the stadium for Arsenal. This is a very considerable achievement given the complexity of the project across an enormous range of issues. A lot of people have worked very hard to bring us this far but I would particularly like to thank Islington Council, who have worked alongside us from the outset, the London Development Agency and the Mayor for all their support.
“We now look forward to working with our banking group and chosen constructor, McAlpine, as we move into the construction phase of the project.”
Arsene Wenger, who said he hoped he was still in charge of the team when they move into the new stadium, said: “It has been a big target of mine to participate in pushing the club forward and relocating to a new stadium is a necessity as it will enable us to become of one the biggest clubs in the world. Also, I love the fact that the new site is so close to Highbury, it’s where our heart is.” The Ashburton Grove site covers 372,000 square metres and the project will be one of the biggest regeneration plans in the capital.
The stadium will be built by Sir Robert McAlpine under a £220m fixed price contract, which also includes the construction of a new waste and recycling centre.
Total stadium costs, all in are estimated to be £357 million pounds. Arsenal said it will open for the start of the 2006/2007 season. The club reported a net debt of £45.8m, last September.
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood said the financing of the Arsenal group was “now complex” and it had two separate objectives – to fund the stadium and continue investment in Arsenal’s squad.
He said that £285 million pounds was the most he expected Arsenal to be in debt, which would occur just before they opened the new stadium, and he did not expect that level of debt to affect Wenger’s purchasing power.
Arsenal is contributing the balance of the costs through funds from shareholder Granada, Nike and the sale of surplus land attached to the stadium site in north London.
Arsenal also have permission to build a residential development on the Highbury site. However, ANR understands clearance is still being sought from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister over objections to the Compulsory Purchase Orders on buildings associated with the Ashburton Grove site. Objectors had asked for an extension to the deadline for responses, which ran out at the end of last week.