La Liga giants, Real Madrid, have reportedly incurred a legal setback in a court dispute with Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor, Mubadala, regarding the intended $440 million sponsorship agreement for their stadium in Madrid.
Real Madrid had claimed 400 million euros ($440 million) from Mubadala because they said the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor failed to honor a sponsorship deal under which it would acquire rights to name the Santiago Bernabeu stadium for 20 years. “The arbitral tribunal constituted under the rules of the Court of International Trade in Paris has ruled in favor of (Mubadala),” the source told Reuters.
In 2014, Real agreed on a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi fund International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), now Mubadala, to help finance a planned stadium overhaul.
The project was meant to add a striking new roof and exterior to the current structure and include a hotel and a shopping center to help the world’s richest club by income to boost its revenue.
However, in 2015, a Madrid court halted the original modification of the stadium.
A later plan, approved by the Madrid city council in 2017, differed from the one the football club and Mubadala agreed.
The court ruled the sponsorship contract had expired by the time the second expansion was agreed in 2017.
Allen & Overy y GBS Disputes advised IPIC Mubadala and Alonso & Diez-Hochleitner Abogados y Perez-Llorca advised Real Madrid.
Mudabala’s holdings include Spanish energy firm Compania Espanola de Petroleos.
