Lansdown turns £15m of City debt into shares

BRISTOL City majority shareholder Steve Lansdown has written off £15.3 million of debt by converting it into club shares, as has become tradition at this time of year.

A return of allotment of shares notice was posted at Companies House yesterday for Bristol City Holdings, detailing 15,305,640 shares issued for £1 each.

Last year, the Guernsey-based billionaire converted £14m of debt into shares on June 2, and he did the same in 2020 through the same method, that time for £71m, while in 2019 it was £10m.

The move could either be seen as a fresh cash injection for use in the transfer market or, far more likely, to write off some of the club’s debt after a challenging two years following the financial impact of the pandemic.

City’s accounts for 2020/21 revealed the Robins debt levels had risen from £72m to £79.1m, although a large amount of that is to Lansdown’s own Pula Sports.

The Robins are working hard to fall in line with the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability rules for next term, having posted losses of £38.4m for the financial year ending 2021 which, as CEO Richard Gould has warned, would see them falling foul of the regulations for next season and therefore in danger of a points deduction.

But the club have significantly reduced their wage bill over the last two transfer windows, and are optimistic they can do the same this summer by moving on some high earners, while the market also brings the prospect of raising revenue, which has proven to be difficult over the last two summer windows due to the pandemic.