The Turkish company Limak will carry out the reform of the Camp Nou

BarcelonaThe board of directors of Barça announced this Monday that the construction company that will carry out the comprehensive reform of the Camp Nou will be the Turkish company Limak Construction. The board chaired by Joan Laporta has met to validate the results of a competition that included three other companies: the Spanish Ferrovial and Acciona and FCC and the French Vinci. The verdict comes without the club having signed the credit to begin the bulk of the works, which are also not associated with a definitive license from Barcelona City Council. Talks with Goldman Sachs, the main financial provider, have been going on for months. In fact, the American investment bank has had a specific weight in the selection of the construction company, whose best-known stadium it has built is the Mersin Arena, with a capacity for 25,000 people, in the city that hosts this first name. Limak’s big specialty is roads and airports.

How was the selection process?

As reported by the club, the selection process was carried out through an auditing team that assessed different aspects, such as the solvency of the companies. It also demanded that the construction company allow the works to be financed, and that they have a guaranteed maximum price, and that it commit to a maximum deadline for the completion of the project, the summer of 2026, explained Laura Mas, lawyer and member of the team of compliance of the club From there, the proposal was transferred to the board, which approved it unanimously. In the voting, Joan Laporta delegated his vote, as he was away, and Jordi Llauradó, a builder, asked not to vote “for professional ethics” and to “avoid suspicion” in the result.

What guarantees does Limak offer to build the Camp Nou?

“Experience in stadiums is not a requirement in itself. The Camp Nou is a work of engineering and Limak is a world-renowned company with enough solvency to take the project forward,” said vice-president Elena Fort, in charge to present the agreement in public. Initially, the selection process was intended for Spanish companies, but eventually it became international. “We have ensured that the stadium is built at the best price and in the shortest possible time, and Limak provides sufficient guarantees in all these aspects, also in the good execution of the project.”

What is the cost of the Camp Nou reform?

Barça has been able to carry out the works on Espai Barça thanks to the two bridging loans that Goldman Sachs has granted it. The first, in Bartomeu’s time, and the second, in Laporta’s. They add up to a total of 180 million. But this amount will be insufficient to face the bulk of the Camp Nou remodeling works, which will begin next summer, once the current campaign ends. Thus, Barça is negotiating a new loan that it expects to close before the end of the year. “Goldman Sachs helps us find the money, and that’s why it’s normal that it needs to know details of the project, to be able to get it,” said Fort, justifying the presence of this financier in the bidding process of a project which “will have a guaranteed maximum cost” of around 900 million euros. This money is only for the Camp Nou. In total, the Catalan government rates the entire Espai Barça, including Cruyff and the new Palau, at 1,500 million, of which it estimates that nearly 250 have already been spent.

What is the Camp Nou construction schedule?

The forecast is for the Olympic Stadium to be played throughout the 2023-2024 season and probably some games in the 2024-2025 season as well, although, as explained by Fort, Limak has promised that Barça can play at the stadium again before November 29, 2024, the date of the 125th anniversary. The investment that the Barcelona club will have to make in the improvements to the Olympic venue will mean a cost of around 20 million euros. And the loss of income associated with exile will exceed 150 million next campaign. That’s why Laporta and his team want it to last as long as possible, even if during the 24-25 and 25-26 seasons the stadium is still half-finished. By contract, Limak has committed to finish the stadium works before June 2026. That summer there will be elections.

What has been done so far at Espai Barça?

In 2019, the Johan Cruyff stadium was inaugurated in the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper for Barça women’s and Barça Atlètic to play there. A year later, the demolition of the Miniestadi was completed, which led to the controversial payment of 1.5 million to Laietà for possible inconvenience during the operation. On the other hand, work has been carried out inside the Camp Nou to start adapting the facilities in terms of technology and external development. As for the Camp Nou, only the demolition of the central part of the third stand of the south goal of the Camp Nou was carried out, during the stoppage of the World Cup, which led to the removal of the video marker beforehand and the seats in the area. These works have had a maximum cost of 4.6 million and have mainly affected 3,728 locations in the third tier, of which 3,182 correspond to members who have been relocated or have been offered a temporary moratorium on the payment of the subscription

Who will direct the works of the new Camp Nou?

The UTE (temporary union of companies) is formed by JG Ingenieros and Torrella Ingeniería, companies from Barcelona and Terrassa, respectively. The choice brought controversy because the College of Architects of Catalonia did not see clearly the formation of this tandem, especially because of Torrella’s inexperience in sports venues. This joint venture led to the departure of the project from the b720 firms Fermín Vázquez and Nikken-Sekkei, which in 2016 won the competition for design and execution. In addition, as reported by the ARA, this summer also left the IDOM project, the company that had been in charge of reformulating the remodeling of the Camp Nou since the arrival of Joan Laporta in the presidency, in March 2021. ‘Barcelona City Council still has to give the go-ahead to this remodeling.