RedBird Capital are now in pole position to become the new owners of AC Milan club having overtaken Investcorp with a better offer.
Those who expected AC Milan to be sold to Bahrain fund Investcorp will in fact be disappointed. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital are close to completing the acquisition of AC Milan club from Elliot Management.
RedBird have overtaken Investcorp in the race to become the new owners of the Rossoneri. Investcorp appear to have abandoned negotiations after Elliott’s hesitations and recent difficulties in finding a minority partner. They are out of the picture reports Reuters. Gerry Cardinale’s fund, on the other hand, has raised the initial offer, with a proposal that seems to have convinced the Singer family.
RedBird are now offering 1.3 billion euros, plus financial clauses that could bring an additional 500 million into Elliott’s pockets in the coming years. Overall, it’s an economic offer very similar to Investcorp’s initial one, but with rather different contents and modalities.
Elliott, who were reportedly always more convinced of the American proposal than the Arab one, did not comment on these rumors. Elliott could still be part of the future AC Milan project according to Il Sole 24 Ore. RedBird’s offer will in fact be divided into €600 million equity plus various loans, also borne by Elliott. The Anglo-American fund would therefore remain both with a minority stake and as a temporary lender.
The real financial structure presented by RedBird has yet to be discovered. If this last piece convinces Paul and Gordon Singer, Milan will be ready to change hands in the coming weeks. Obviously, everything will take place once the season is over. The management doesn’t want the squad to be influenced by this sale rumors.
