AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has hinted at wanting to double his investment after purchasing the club from Elliott Management.
Cardinale’s fund RedBird Capital bought Milan from Elliott at the end of August in a deal that totals €1.2bn and it continues the trend of American investors wanting to own football clubs in Italy because of the great potential the league has.
Without much concrete action having been taken by RedBird since they bought the club due there not being a transfer window yet, there are understandably some questions about what their ambitions are like and how they stack up against the rather frugal but sensible Elliott Management.
Cardinale spoke to The Australian to discuss the strategy of his fund RedBird and seemed to suggest he is looking to double to value of Milan.
“We’re known for our sports investing, because sports today gets all the profile,” he told The Australian (via FI).
“We look to make a minimum of a double on our investments and we underwrite two and a half to three times our money over a reasonable period of time.
“Sports have a tremendous resiliency to it… what’s great about it is it is a real shock absorber that can withstand technological disintermediation. So even though the way fans and consumers consume this content is evolving and changing … that content is even valuable and is as omnipresent as it’s ever been.”
He also spoke about the idea of building a new stadium: “You’re kind of overpaying and then you have to find a way to work your way into the money. In the US it is real estate. That’s not as prevalent in Europe where the infrastructure is much older.”
