German bank may finance new Wembley
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A German bank has emerged as an unlikely saviour for the scheme to build a new national stadium at Wembley.
Westdeutsche Landesbank, or WestLB, is close to completing a financial package to redevelop the site, seven years after the Football Association first mooted the idea of building a new home for English football.
The Germans' bid appeared to have wrong-footed Barclays Bank, which has been leading an effort to raise £300m in the City for a separate scheme to build a 90,000-seat stadium on the site in north-west London.
Barclays had been struggling to meet the Government's deadline of Tuesday for completing proposals and had been expected to ask for a fortnight's extension.
WestLB is expected to have its plans, understood to be valued at £485m, ready by the end of next week. If approved, the deal would bring the long-running saga of Wembley to an ironic end. Germany is regarded by many English fans as their bitterest footballing rival and Wembley hosted the nation's most famous victory, when England beat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 World Cup final. One of the winning team, George Cohen, described the proposal as bizarre. He said: "It does seem a bit sad we can't fund the whole thing. If the German banks can see a business opportunity then I'm sure any of the English banks could."
The German funding proposal is being put together by Robin Saunders, an American who is admired in the City for her skill in complex deals, including a £1.4bn bond restructuring deal for Formula One motor racing. A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said it had not been told about the German bid. He said: "It is a matter for the FA which institutions they approach."
WestLB, Barclays and the FA-owned Wembley National Stadium declined to comment. The Wembley saga has centred on the spiralling cost of the scheme and whether to include other sports in the rebuilt stadium. In December, the Government refused to give the project the final go-ahead after last-minute doubts about the business plan.
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