Ahead of Real Madrid’s upcoming General Assembly on the 23rd of November, there is plenty of uncertainty over what changes President Florentino Perez will suggest. Last year Perez assured that he was keen to make changes to Los Blancos’ 123-year-old member model.
It is expected that Perez will call an extraordinary General Assembly to present a potential change of model to the club’s members, who currently own the club and elect their president via a democratic model. Any changes will then be put to a referendum, requiring more than half of their 96,000 members to approve the changes.
Real Madrid could become private company
On Wednesday night it was suggested that Perez could convert the club into a private company on the stock market, issuing one share to each member. However it would not be possible for members to sell their shares, only being able to transfer shares to other or new members. The aim would be to avoid the club falling into the control of foreign capital.
Perez is keen on a change of model.
Image via AFP7/Europa Press
Real Madrid could sell off percentage of club
It was not exactly clear what benefit this would provide to the club, or what protections it would encompass that are not currently in place. However more information from El Pais (via Marca) may make sense of that idea. They have received indications that Perez could be looking to impose that shareholders model, but sell off 5-10% of the club to inject capital into their accounts.
The investor would be unable to then invest in further shares in the company, and Real Madrid would seek a valuation of €10b for the club, meaning a 10% sale would inject €1b into their accounts. This would certainly maintain Real Madrid in the hands of the members, but opens the door to a slippery slope, as presumably the regulations on selling shares can be altered just as easily as they are implemented.