Cash in the bank! Court frees R$40m for Vasco, sets funding rules | OneFootball

The Rio de Janeiro courts have officially authorized the injection of emergency funds into Vasco SAF’s cash flow. The ruling issued this Monday gave the green light for the club to receive R$ 40 million from Almirante S/A, a company owned by Marcos Lamacchia, the investor in advanced negotiations to take over the controlling stake of Rio’s football operation.

The request had been filed last Saturday under the DIP financing model, a type of financial loan specifically designed to preserve the operational health of institutions undergoing Judicial Recovery proceedings. The judge in charge of the case highlighted in the ruling that the fundraising received unanimous approval and favorable opinions from the judicial administrator, the oversight committee (watchdog), and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

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Purpose of the funds and rules of Vasco’s ownership transition

Raising this amount is intended exclusively to ensure the sustainability of administrative activities and meet the Cruz-Maltino’s priority obligations. The court order expressly stated that the funds do not have regulatory authorization to boost head coach Pedro Emanuel’s transfer-window budget, serving instead as transitional fiscal support while the auction notice procedures are finalized in court.

The financial structure of the deal was arranged without the application of remunerative interest rates, and the financial implications of the ruling were detailed in the civil courts:

The money will be paid immediately in a single lump sum. The amount will be used by the club to help pay for the judicial recovery process and support cash flow. There will be no remunerative interest, and the amount will be deducted from the total capital injection Lamacchia will make when he takes over the club’s SAF — in all, the total investment will exceed R$ 3 billion.

In other words, the DIP loan is intended to ensure the continuity of the club’s operations. It is not money meant to strengthen the budget for signings.

Share conversion and Crefisa guarantees

The legal model implemented repeats the credit mechanism used in the second half of last season, when the association’s management secured R$ 80 million from Crefisa, a company owned by patriarch José Roberto Lamacchia. The target plan provides that all debt accumulated through these emergency loans will be converted into a direct stake in the share capital of the new sports company, reducing the value of the future installments of the multibillion-real investment in Vasco.

These amounts will be converted into capital of the new SAF if Marcos Lamacchia is chosen as the new football investor — otherwise, the club will have to repay the company. In the ruling, the court emphasized that contracting the loan serves the interests of the judicial recovery process and does not compromise creditors’ rights, while also helping preserve the club’s activities.

Progress of the auction and bidding commitments

The next bureaucratic steps require maintaining the schedule set in the court notice, which provides for opening the process to new interested buyers until the September deadline. The confidence conveyed by the lawyers is that the current financial flow removes the imminent risks of account freezes or penalties for late salary payments in Rio de Janeiro.

While the board works to address creditor liabilities in the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro, the professional players remain focused on training for the national tournament. The coaching staff’s intention is to shield the locker room from the external political turmoil and prepare the squad for the Gigante’s decisive match, as the team seeks three points to move out of the relegation zone in the Brazilian Championship.

Marcos Lamacchia and Pedrinho, Vasco president – Photo: Reproduction

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.