Confrasilvas group completes 33 million euro Bessa stadium purchase, buys 70% of Boavista claims

The deed and the price

On Thursday, 12 November 2026, the deed for the Bessa stadium and its adjacent sports complex in Porto was signed, handing the assets to the Confrasilvas group, which is based in Lisbon and led by Jorge Silva Maurício. The purchase price was 33 million euros, just above the 32.9 million euro minimum set for the two assets together. The stadium reopened in 2003, served as one of 10 venues for Euro2004 in Portugal, and has been out of use for more than a year because of an impediment imposed by the authorities. The wider area is about 78,000 square metres, and the sports complex within it covers 21,145 square metres with what the sources describe as significant urban and value potential.

How the sale unfolded

The two assets were first offered electronically on the auctioneer Leilosoc's website during the first half of the year. No bid for the complete set reached the 32.9 million euro minimum, and the best offer recorded in that period was 25.7 million euros. One report places the group's bid slightly above the minimum in September, before creditors approved the sale on 7 October, the same day they rejected the recovery plan put forward by the club's board. The main steps from the liquidation decision to the deed are tracked below.

Frozenpark and the creditor stake

Frozenpark, part of the Confrasilvas group, now holds almost 70% of Boavista's claims after buying the claim held by Sacyr Somague, the company that built the stadium, for 54 million euros. The debts recognised in court are put at around 100 million euros. Earlier, Paulo Santos Silva, whose company Fun Addict was a significant creditor of the club, had bought claims held by BES and BPI worth practically 15 million euros, which had been transferred to the asset managers Ares Lusitani and BTL. SAPO reports that a proposal from a group of Qatari investors to acquire the same 70% of claims had been rejected.

Best bid, first-half auction25.7

Auction minimum32.9

Final price, deed signed 12 November33

Best bid, first-half auction

25.7 million euros

Auction minimum

32.9 million euros

Final price, deed signed 12 November

33 million euros

Data from the article text

Boavista's insolvency

The club's liquidation was approved in September 2025, after debts above 150 million euros, but Boavista was allowed to keep operating if it met financial conditions, including paying current expenses. That condition was not met, and the insolvency administrator, Maria Clarisse Barros, ordered the club closed. In October, most creditors rejected the recovery plan drawn up by the board, which said it would keep negotiating a new, viable document. On 27 October the Vila Nova de Gaia commerce court suspended the closure for 30 days, a closure that had been set for 31 October, after a request from the club and creditors representing more than half of the recognised claims. The suspension depends on payment of expenses, failing which the administrator would close the club immediately.

What remains open

The purchase does not, on its own, resolve the insolvency of Boavista, according to the sources. A deposit paid in October into the insolvent estate's account was earmarked for estate costs, secured property tax claims from the Tax Authority, and recognised labour claims, according to a source speaking to Lusa. SAPO says the 70% stake could give the group a significant position in decisions on the insolvency and on the club's future. The sources agree that the club's future depends on an agreement with creditors that secures its financial and sporting sustainability, and the 30-day suspension granted on 27 October is the next checkpoint.