Credit: Maurizio Borsari/AFLO/PA Images

Atalanta has announced a partnership with Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo in which the firm will help finance €40m to renovate the club’s Gewiss Stadium.

The funding will be financed through an agreement between Intesa Sanpaolo and the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo, the principal lender in Italy for sports facilities, to help the Serie A club’s project be completed by the end of 2021.

As part of the deal, the Italian bank has been named as a sponsor and banking partner for Atalanta’s main team with Intesa Sanpaolo also becoming the main partner of its youth side. 

“Establishing a partnership with the largest Italian banking group, which is also one of the largest in the Eurozone, can only make us proud,” stated Luca Percassi, Chief Executive Officer Atalanta B.C.

“Such an important agreement, at such a difficult time as the one we are experiencing at a global level, confirms and strengthens our club’s determination to continue growing. 

“Completing the Gewiss Stadium renovation not only means providing our fans with a more comfortable and modern structure but also giving a completely redeveloped, more liveable and family-friendly area back to the city of Bergamo and its citizens.”

Additionally, the investment in the renovation project will see Atalanta’s grandstand be renamed as ‘Renaissance’ which will provide continuity to a programme launched by Intesa Sanpaolo and the City of Bergamo to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was created to help support small or start-up businesses affected by the crisis by helping the firms adapt to the changing landscape.

Gaetano Miccichè, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of UBI Banca added: “We are extremely proud to announce this agreement today and thus make a real contribution to a project that will also allow Atalanta Calcio and the city of Bergamo to play and win in a more functional, larger, state-of-the-art, stadium that will be proudly showcased across Europe.

“This partnership aims to provide tangible evidence of the commitment that the new organisation which is emerging from the integration of Intesa Sanpaolo and UBI Banca for the areas in which they operate, which considers the support it provides to businesses, families, employees and shareholders to be one of the strengths of our banking group.”

According to the release, Atalanta’s renovated stadium is set to create ‘a new, inclusive and sustainable venue capable of hosting sporting events as well as providing business services and other cultural initiatives’ thus boosting the city’s financial opportunities in the near future.

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