Football
9y

Hamburg's stadium to be renamed 'Volksparkstadion' after Kuhne deal

Hamburg have announced a deal with transport tycoon Klaus-Michael Kuhne, with the 77-year-old having bought 7.5 percent of the club's shares and the naming rights to their stadium.

Only three days before the annual member's meeting on Sunday, Hamburg announced the strategic partnership with Kuhne. The transport tycoon, who appeared to have ended his partnership with the side last year when waiving an option for a strategic partnership, is to turn 18.75 million euros of his 25 million-euro loan to HSV into a 7.5 percent share in the club.

An accounting firm last estimated Hamburg's total value as 330 million euros, with the current deal stating the club's value at 250 million euros, according to kicker.

Kuhne has also bought the naming rights to Hamburg's stadium for four years. He announced that from July 1, 2015 onwards the arena will take on its old name of Volksparkstadion, as it was called before 2001.

Over the last 14 years, the stadium has had three different names -- AOL Arena, HSH-Nordbank Arena and Imtech Arena.

"I hope that I can support the awakening of HSV with my contribution," Kuhne told Hamburg's official website, and added that giving back the old name to the home of the club was "a matter of heart" for him.

According to reports, the tycoon will pay four million euros a year for the naming rights, with the deal set to end in 2019.

"We continue on our path of commercial consolidation and have reached an important milestone," HSV chairman Karl Gernhardt said. "We will continue to work hard to regain competiveness in every department as compared to Bundesliga standards."

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