The news has emerged that Barclays have joined the list of companies that have come forward to express an interest in providing financing for Serie A, a report claims.
Tuttosport reports that the British bank are now among JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Apollo, Searchlight and (consortium) Carlyle/Apax/Three Hills in having made clear their desire to invest in the league, and the Lega assembly – scheduled in three days – will examine the offers to understand which path to take.
There are three possible paths. The first is the large-scale financing from the investment banks, aimed at creating the Lega channel, cushioning the business risk of the clubs without a change in the top management of Serie A.
Then there is the approach of the private equity funds that aim to enter the shareholding of the Lega in the form of a new media company, with the inclusion of external managerial figures.
Finally there is a hybrid road halfway between a bank loan and the purchase of shares, studied in particular on the activity of transferring foreign rights, an area where Serie A struggles compared to other leagues.
Right now the banks seem to be picking up more as some presidents such as Claudio Lotitio (Lazio) and Aurelio De Laurentiis (Napoli) do not look kindly on private equity funds because they don’t like the idea of promising revenues to companies outside Italy.
In recent days this position has been considerably strengthened by the statements of the owner of Milan, Gerry Cardinale, in London. He expressed his opposition to private equity funds despite being the head of a similar entity, as he said: “We must not mortgage the future.”
The Rossoneri club supported the JP Morgan hypothesis in the last few meetings and the entry of Barclays – a name that strongly refers to the impetuous development of the Premier League in recent decades – could represent another point in favour of the big banks.
