MSV Duisburg and Schauinsland-Reisen have agreed on a “debt waiver against debtor warrant”. Ingo Wald and Andreas Rüttgers explained exactly what this looks like
MSV Duisburg announced an agreement with Schauinsland-Reisen regarding the loan in a press release on December 8, 2023.
On Tuesday, December 19, MSV CEO Ingo Wald and SLR Head of Tourism Andreas Rüttgers explained the agreement in a media roundtable.
Wald announced that they had jointly agreed on a “debt waiver in return for a debtor warrant”. “MSV owes Schauinsland a total of almost six million euros through the e.V. and the KGaA. These are the loan amounts with accrued interest,” said the CEO, explaining the situation.
However, these are no longer due. “The agreement has been made in such a way that Schauinsland-Reisen will waive these six million euros.” Accordingly, the liabilities are “practically wiped off the balance sheet”, which ensures a “significantly improved equity situation” for both the e.V. and the KGaA.
“Fair and self-evident agreement”
However, the agreed debtor warrant may result in repayments in the future. “We have the six million debt waiver for now. I think it’s a very fair and natural agreement to return parts of it if a situation arises where MSV is in a better position than planned,” explained Wald. “Of course, Schauinsland will also make concessions as to when the debtor warrant is drawn and when it is not. This is still under discussion, but the signals are also there that Schauinsland is very sympathetic. “
We can definitely say that we don’t want anything that goes into the license area.
Andreas Rüttgers
Rüttgers reiterated these signals: “We can definitely say that we don’t want anything that goes into the licensing area. So even if the club is promoted to Bundesliga 2, we won’t get anything for it – neither TV money nor anything else.” Instead, repayments will only be made if income is generated over and above what is important for the license.
Possible scenarios for the redemption of the debtor warrant include, for example, “if MSV reaches the third or fourth round of the DFB Cup, or if there is a situation where a large investor comes in, that you participate in small parts of it,” explained Rüttgers, adding: “Perhaps also if a player transfer happens in the second or first division, that you participate with a small percentage, but in such a way that the club has every opportunity to continue to be able to act.”
“Liberating blow”, but no transfer offensive
Although the solution is a “liberating blow” for MSV, it is not the case that the club can now fall back on large reserves that could be invested in the squad, as Wald made clear. “Because the loan has always been deferred, we haven’t built up any provisions or reserves, which means we now have a pot of, say, one million euros that we could invest in new signings. We certainly have free funds as a result of the solution, but they are nowhere near the amount that some people might wish for.”
These larger reserves do not exist because the loan was not “put on hold” by the decision to end Schauinsland-Reisen’s sponsorship commitment at the end of the season, as Rüttgers emphasized.
Accordingly, the loan and the sponsorship had to be considered separately. “We have said that advertising makes no sense for us in this situation. But the loans have been extended further, so there were no provisions that affected any transfer periods or anything like that,” explained the SLR tourism manager.
Schauinsland-Reisen will not exert any influence on MSV Duisburg in the future, as this was not part of the agreement. “Given that the loans practically no longer exist, where should any influence be exerted?” Wald asked rhetorically.