To allay worries about the club’s finances, Leicester City chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has eliminated the club’s £194 million debt to its parent company King Power.
A debt-to-equity conversion by the Thai entrepreneur helped the club pay off its unpaid obligations to parent firm King Power and lower the costs on the balance sheet.
The Premier League team owes the sum in debts to King Power International, the Thai family-owned company.
But in a statement released by the club on Wednesday, chairman Srivaddhanaprabha, also known as Khun Top, made the decision to further demonstrate his dedication to the organisation by wiping out the debt.
King Power International Co Limited (KPI), which is entirely owned by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, received equity in the amount of about £194 million in loans and accompanying interest, according to a club statement.
“These loans have been provided by KPI to the Club over the last four years to fund the construction of the Club’s world-class new training ground at Seagrave and to continue to support the Club’s investments into its squad and Women’s football during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The action taken by Srivaddhanaprabha is the second of its sort since the family acquired ownership of the club in August 2010.
It takes after his late father Vichai, who tragically passed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium in 2018 along with two other passengers and the pilots.
In both situations, it has been made sure that no previous shareholder investment in the club will be carried forward as debt.
In 2013, Vichai completed a £103M debt-to-equity transition.
As the club is rumoured to have many loans with other banks, this does not make Leicester debt-free in the traditional sense.
However, the £194 million due to King Power far outweighs the worth of the other loans.
As of right now, it eases the club’s financial concerns.
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