Skip to main content

Private equity investor in takeover talks at AC Milan

Asset manager Investcorp is in exclusive talks to acquire AC Milan from US hedge fund Elliott Management, reports the Financial Times.    The deal could value the Serie A team at more than €1 billion.

Elliott took control of AC Milan in 2012 at a fraction of that sum after the previous Chinese owner failed to pay back debt to the hedge fund's credit arm.   Before that it had been owned by former Italian prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi

AC Milan is back in the Champions League and is currently top of Serie A.  It has not won the title since 2011 and repeatedly failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Investcorp is a Gulf-based private equity investor with a wide range of assets including real estate, hedge funds and private debt.   It has stakes in luxury brands Gucci and Tiffany.   The group intends to consolidate its position in the top level of European football.

Globalisation is far from over in football, even if China and Russia are no longer active.  Football assets remain attractive, even though they are a high risk investment with uncertain returns.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion.  Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs.  An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

Reports about Charlton sale exaggerated

Reports have appeared in The Guardian and elsewhere that Charlton has been put up for sale. Richard Cawley is an authoritative local journalist who runs a South London Sport substack site.  He reached out to the club yesterday evening to ask for comment on The Guardian’s article. Early indications from the club have been that nothing has changed since the story about them seeking investment, except that it is now a different company doing it. Charlton have since managed to consolidate their place in the Championship, avoiding an instant return to League One, with their women’s side promoted to the WSL, returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007, although staying there is likely to be costly. It would be counter-intuitive for owners Global Football Partners not to progress the club when looking for investment, that the focus remains on driving it forward, that their spend this summer is in line with long-term planning and will see an increase in wages spent on players...

Hull City's 'strange' loan

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned.  He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long.  What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do