The Chinese-led consortium has finalized the takeover of Italian soccer club AC Milan from its long reign owner Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday, April 13. The consortium acquires the club for $780 million.
The news about the finalized takeover was reported by Xinhua. The consortium named Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux is now officially become the owner of AC Milan.The Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux is managed under the Chinese businessman Li Yonghong.
The consortium has raised $780 million for the takeover of the iconic soccer team, AC Milan. In the final phase of the takeover, Elliott Management Corporation, as reported by Shanghai Daily, has participated to provide the $190 million loan to pay the final amount of the deal. Elliot Management Corporation is the U.S. based hedge fund management firm, based in New York City.
Prior to finalizing the takeover, Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux appointed Marco Fassone to become the CEO of AC Milan in August last year. Fassone is an experienced soccer manager, and he has managed three top teams in the Italian League Serie A, Napoli, Inter Milan and Juventus. Fassone replaced Adriano Galliani who has been leading AC Milan since 1986.
Fassone and the new management team have intended to continue Galliani's idea for a new stadium. AC Milan has the option whether to acquire its current home stadium, San Siro from the Milan Municipal administration or to relocate the team to other location. Since 2005, Galliani has been working on relocating the team to a new stadium, before Berlusconi halted the idea in 2015.
AC Milan, the former European soccer powerhouse, experienced sharp decline since 2011. In 2014, the owner of AC Milan Fininvest S.p.A started to look for buyers and sold the team. Fininvest signed the agreement with Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux in August 2016 to sell AC Milan for $550 million, plus the credit in-line at $230 million. The purchase was finalized April 13. Watch the Reuters report regarding final process of the AC Milan takeover below:
