Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has converted £12m worth of loans to the club into shares.
A “statement of capital following an allotment of shares” has been published on the Companies House website showing equity changes at the club.
It details how £12m worth of loans have been converted into equity, to further support the Reds, stating that “the shares were allotted in consideration of a waiver of a debt of £12m”.
It is seen as a show of great commitment by the Greek businessman and an indication of his investment in the club.
Converting the loans into equity takes the debt off Forest, and this latest move comes after similar changes were also made in 2021.
The £12m converted into shares this year is in addition to £20.8m worth of loans being converted into equity 12 months ago.
Marinakis, who took over the Reds in May 2017, also did something similar in 2019.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said of the equity changes last year: “Having a lot of debt on the balance sheet doesn’t look great, so instead of the club owing money in the form of borrowings, it’s like saying the holding company has got the investment in Nottingham Forest in a slightly different format.
“It just makes things look a bit cleaner.
“There’s no implications in terms of cash, because realistically the football club wouldn’t be in a position to repay those loans anyway.
“Sometimes loans from club owners are a bit like the Bank of Mum and Dad - I lend my kid a few grand to get his first car, in the knowledge I’m never going to get my money back, but it’s still officially a loan. It’s that type of loan.
“It has no impact on FFP whatsoever.”
In their most recent set of accounts, published last March and covering the period from April 2019 to May 2020, Forest posted an operating loss of almost £32m - down from £34.4m the previous year.
The club are expected to release their latest results in the coming days, with those figures set to reflect a full season being played behind closed doors.
The entire 2020/21 campaign was played without crowds in attendance, with clubs up and down the country being hit hard by a lack of matchday revenue.
