The recent troubles at Juventus raise questions for John Elkann, grandson of Italian statesman-industrialist Gianni Agnelli, the modern-day family leader. The New York-born tycoon has been unafraid to make radical changes at Exor, the vehicle through which the Agnellis control Juve, having already shifted its headquarters from Italy to the Netherlands.
The history of the family and the club are deeply
intertwined, going back around a century, but will trouble at Juve raise
questions about the future? A person close to Exor insisted Juve isn’t up for
sale.
Despite the financial woes and clashes with authorities,
Juve barely registers in the Exor empire. With a net asset value of €29bn,
Exor can afford to ride out short-term pain at a football club valued at €710mn
on the stock market, even if the headlines in the short-term are unhelpful at
best.
But European clubs are in high demand. There could be
options if Exor is up for a discussion, particularly after Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners acquired AC Milan for €1.2bn earlier
this year.
There should be upside to improve performance at Juve, which
has lost more than €550mn in the last three seasons. In a letter to
shareholders in October, Andrea Agnelli said the annual loss of €254mn in the
2021-22 campaign was “certainly the gloomiest moment” from an “economic-financial
point of view”.
Perhaps Exor wouldn’t relinquish control, but what would it
say to a pitch from a strategic investor with a vision?
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