American mutual fund Red Bird Capital anda has an agreement to acquire AC Milan with the current owner of the club, the fund Elliotalso American, for a figure close to €1.3 billion.
There is already an agreement between RedBird and Elliott. Both US funds have signed the first documents to make the transfer of the ‘Rossonero’ club, a kind of pre-contract, according to the Italian media on Tuesday.
“It is about the so-called ‘signature’, while the closing of the transaction takes more time”, explains the Italian newspaper ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’.
In 2014, the American Gerry Cardinale founded the company that will now lead a project that began in 2018, led by his compatriot Paul Elliott Singer, and which has borne its first fruits this season, with Milan lifting the ‘Scudetto’ for the first time in eleven years.
Three months ago, rumors began about the sale of Milan to Bahraini investment fund Investcorp, which confirmed the intention to reach an agreement with Elliott for one billion euros. However, during the month of May, RedBird put on the table an offer superior to that of the Middle Eastern company (1,300 million euros) and left Investcorp out of the negotiations.
“We had discussions with Elliott about a possible investment in Milan. As can be the case with ‘premium’ deals, no commercial agreement was reached and we mutually decided to end talks. We wish Milan the best for the coming season and further,” Omani Mohammed Al Ardhi, CEO of Investcorp, posted on his official Twitter account.
Now, with the agreement, only the official announcement is missing. Local media suggest that it could be confirmed this week.
RedBird Capital already has experience in sports-related investments. Americans have the 85% of French Toulouse, a team that will play in the French first division next season; and 10% of Fenway Spots Group, a company also from the United States with assets in Liverpool, as well as in the Boston Red Sox (baseball) and Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey).
