Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis converts £82m worth of loans into shares to cut club debt

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has reduced the club’s debt by converting another £82million of loans into share capital.

The Forest owner has done this on a regular basis in recent years, but this is the biggest amount of money he has written off loans so far.

In March 2023, Marinakis turned £41m of loans into share capital in the same fashion. He had converted sums of £12m and £20m in the two years prior to that. Just over a year ago, in December 2023, the sum involved was £11m.

It is a process that helps to keep the club, who currently sit third in the Premier League table, unburdened by debt.

Marinakis gave the green light to another round of investment in the transfer market last summer, with the £11m capture of Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina and the £15m (plus Odi Vlachodimos) deal to sign Elliot Anderson in particular proving to be outstanding bits of business.

Forest, who were handed a four-point deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) last season, also sold well, with Moussa Niakhate moving to Lyon for £27m and Orel Mangala completing a £10m permanent move to the same French club following a previous loan spell.

Forest have strengthened their hierarchy with the appointment of Lina Souloukou as CEO, in a role that will also see her have an influence on the rest of the Marinakis football stable. She previously worked under Marinakis at Olympiacos, before moving to work in Italian football with Roma.

The Greek shipping and media magnate is also the figurehead at Olympiacos and Rio Ave and is hopeful of adding Brazilian club Vasco de Gama to his portfolio. Former Arsenal sporting director Edu is also set to join in a senior role within the multi-club model.

Marinakis has ambitions to see Forest make a return to European football and will sanction further business — most notably the addition of a striker — in January, to further bolster Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad.