Chen completes his Marshall Plan

Although he failed in other predictions (“I hope to be in the Champions League in less than three years”, ventured that famous January 21, 2016), not even the passage through the Second Division and a global pandemic have prevented Chen Yansheng from straying too far of his other great financial goal when he assumed the presidency – and ownership – of Espanyol: to clean up the club, paying off his mammoth debt in about four years. Five have passed, but this Monday the last floodgate of his Marshall Plan will open to reduce that backpack to ashes, and to pave the team's sporting path on its return to First Division.

Espanyol Shield / Flag

A Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, telematic in nature, in which –in addition to hearing it for the first time since the ascent– a capital increase of 37,846,788 euros will be approved, which Chen through the Rastar Group business conglomerate –of which Espanyol is a subsidiary– convert into loan stocks that he kept with the club for that value. Specifically, it is 13 credits subscribed between the beginning of 2016, upon arrival, passing by your mattress to go to the winter market last season, and until this past April 15, 2021, when he subscribed the largest of all: 16.5 million.

This last figure is no coincidence, since in recent months Chen has injected money at Espanyol to cancel other products that the entity dragged with investment funds, which demanded leonine interest. And the most important thing from a football point of view: to compensate for the losses that the club is expected to present at the end of this financial year, since he had budgeted to enter 20 million for player sales in this 2020-21 season and yet he will only receive, except for a bomb in the market before next June 30, the nine from Bayern Munich by Marc Roca.

Rastar will convert 13 loans into shares, including one from April 15 worth 16.5 million

In that sense, the capitalization of 37.8 million will greatly help the team to maintain a balance with the financial fair play required by LaLiga And, although not all that money can be computed in fiscal year 2021-22, yes It will allow you to get closer to the positive balance and, therefore, to be able to tackle a transfer or, at least, to be able to register to most of the players in the current squad. Subscriptions and sponsorships such as the shirt –Reale Seguros on one sleeve, Riviera Maya predictably on the front– will do the rest as long as there are no sales.

In addition to the 37,846,788 euros that Chen, owner of 99.5 percent of Espanyol's share capital, will inject, small shareholders will count with two tranches of one month and 15 days, respectively, for subscribe a new share for every three they already have. That is, they can participate in the capital increase with up to 190,716 euros.

The Association of Petits i Mitjans Accionistes (APMAE) already decided in the assembly, on the 11th, that will vote in favor of enlargement, in an Extraordinary Meeting in which few interventions are foreseen, since a point that was approved in the previous appointment comes into force: Only those who prove that they have 100 or more shares can participate in these shifts.

The share capital can amount to 165.7 million, of which 162.8 has been contributed by Chen through three increases

If the entire planned amount is covered, Espanyol's share capital will be increased to 165,739,218 euros. A naturally historical amount, and the result of the three capital increases promoted by Chen Yansheng since his landing at the parakeet club.

On June 2016, and although 'only' covered 75 of the 150 million proposed, it went from holding 60 percent of the capital to 99.3 percent. On December 2019, when capitalizing loans worth 50 million in shares, it reduced financial debt to 46.46 million, and expanded its control. Now, it will add 37.8 million more, and will complete its Marshall Plan.