RedBird Capital has appeared to surpass Investcorp in the battle to buy AC Milan, which is one point away from winning the Serie A title for the first time in 11 years.
According to reports, RedBird has struck a preliminary agreement with the exiting owner Elliott Management on a $1.4 billion purchase, which may be revealed as soon as next week.
The exclusive negotiating window between Investcorp and Elliott Management expired at the end of April, although the asset management firm was still having takeover talks. According to reports, Investcorp “couldn’t agree with them [Elliott] on the settlement of the situation” and had to postpone its plans.
- Last year, RedBird paid around $750 million for an 11 per cent share in Fenway Sports Group.
- FSG along with LeBron James owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC.
- In 2020, RedBird acquired an 85 per cent share in Toulouse FC, which was promoted from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 last month.
Elliott Management will keep a minority investment in AC Milan. The investment management firm took over the team in 2018 after prior owner Yonghong Li ran into financial difficulties.
According to reports, RedBird would prefer to retain AC Milan’s directors, Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara. The agreement is not yet finalised and might be postponed.