The Alicante businessman Enrique Riquelme has obtained the green light from the banks to run in the Real Madrid elections. Just 10 hours before the deadline to submit candidacies expires, the president of Cox, a company specialized in renewable energies, has signed a guarantee with Andbank for 193 million euros, according to financial sources. The club’s regulations required that every candidate for the elections, among other requirements, provide a financial shield for 15% of the club’s budget, issued by an entity registered with the Bank of Spain.
Read more Zelenski rejects the German proposal for Ukraine to be an associated state of the EU
After an intense night of negotiations and clearing up the last details of the matter, Riquelme obtained the financial institution’s approval at midday this Saturday and is about to submit his candidacy imminently. Negotiations between Andbank and the businessman began at the end of last week but only gained momentum in the last 24 hours. In reality, it is a pre-guarantee, which would only become an actual guarantee if he wins the elections and becomes president of the club. Thus, in that case, if he faced financial problems, the president of the guaranteeing bank would have to respond, with the guarantee of Riquelme’s personal assets.
The approval was delayed for several hours, although it was already very advanced on Friday, due to Andbank’s need to obtain cross guarantees from the banks where Riquelme deposits his personal fortune, which ultimately truly supports the candidacy. For this, it has needed to count on several international entities, such as the Canadian Scotiabank. A guarantee of this type essentially works like the collateral that a house provides in a mortgage loan. And in recent hours, Andbank has focused on securing with other banks that the assets Riquelme has deposited with them cover the guarantee. The entrepreneur’s main asset is his 65% stake in Cox, which is valued on the stock market at about 700 million (the entire company is worth about 1.1 billion).
The main problem for Riquelme in recent weeks has been finding a Spanish bank to guarantee him. The two main Spanish entities, Santander and BBVA, refused to participate in the operation, despite having financed his company in the past or participated in its IPO. For example, just a few months ago, they participated in the 4 billion credit with which Cox acquired Iberdrola’s assets in Mexico.
The talks, therefore, have not been free of tension and external pressures, according to sources present in them. However, the financial institution prioritized obtaining an economic return from this financial transaction. “Banks, in the end, will look to see if they can make a profit. In this type of operation, the financial institution charges interest during the time it maintains the guarantee, which will be a few weeks if Riquelme loses the elections, when it would expire. The risk would be very low in this case,” explains a banker familiar with this type of transaction.
Finally, the negotiations have reached a successful conclusion with Andbank’s Spanish subsidiary, which does have a banking license on national soil, although it depends directly on an Andorran bank, its ultimate parent. This would comply with what the Real Madrid statutes establish. Andbank is not one of the large commercial banks known to the general public in Spain, but it does have a long track record in the market. Its activity is oriented towards private banking; that is, high net worth individuals. It does have Myinvestor in Spain, a digital bank specialized in investment that has experienced rapid growth in recent years.
In addition to Spanish banking, Riquelme has managed in recent years to build good relationships with major international entities. Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays have been involved in the major operations his company has carried out, such as the aforementioned purchase of Iberdrola Mexico or the IPO of the brand he presides over at the end of 2024. The relationship with Scotiabank, for example, dates back to that time.
The Alicante businessman has been weighing whether to run in the elections or not over the past two weeks. This Thursday, when the official deadline was ending, he officially announced his intention to run. The executive emphasized that day that, after twenty years without elections, “democratically and with respect” they are shaping a candidacy that seeks “to be able to give the club back to the members, put it in the spotlight, and, above all, with all due respect to all parties,” that generates “that enthusiasm and recovers the club’s values.”
Read more The ‘Plus Ultra case’ uncovers a fake invoice operation: “We can agree on the concepts”
