Klaus-Michael Kuehne, majority owner of international logistics company Kühne + Nagel, has expressed his interest in acquiring the naming rights to German 1.Bundesliga football club Hamburg SV’s stadium, according to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.
Dutch technical services provider Imtech last week announced its intention to withdraw from its sponsorship commitments in German football.
Hamburg’s 57,000-seat home has been known as the Imtech Arena since 2010. Imtech’s current deal with Hamburg is reportedly worth €4.2m ($5.6m) per season and is scheduled to run until 2016, but chief executive Gerard van der Aast said that the company is seeking to negotiate an early conclusion to the partnership.
Kuehne has said he would be interested in a deal that would see the stadium’s name revert back to the Volksparkstadion – its moniker from 1953 to 2001.
“If the HSV develop more power and strength, then I would consider coming back as a promoter,” Kuehne said. “I would, preferably with like-minded people, buy the name Volksparkstadion.”