AC Milan have an important Europa League game tomorrow against Slavia Praha, but all of the headlines at the moment surround more corporate matters.
La Gazzetta dello Sport this morning provided a comprehensive round-up of what we know so far regarding the investigation, while the brilliant Felice Raimondo picked apart the various cases that could be brought against Milan.
According to what is being reported by La Gazzetta, The the that filters through most frequently is ‘amazement’. Now it will be necessary to understand if the fund governed by Gerry Cardinale will release some official statement.
First Milan and then Elliott Management have already officially expressed themselves. The former underlined that “the the is third and unrelated to the ongoing proceedings relating to the acquisition of the same, completed in August 2022′, and that ‘it is providing full collaboration to the investigating authority’.
Elliott remarked that ‘this accusation is false. Milan was sold to RedBird on 31 August 2022. As of that date, Elliott no longer has any shareholding or control over AC Milan’.
In addition, as the news agencies report, ‘sources familiar with the situation point out that, as is common practice in private equity transactions, Elliott has provided RedBird with a vendor loan the terms of which allow Elliott to appoint up to two directors in the Board of Directors of AC Milan.
‘To date, Elliott has appointed only one director. Other than the vendor loan, Elliott has not provided any capital to RedBird and Elliott’s funds are not invested in RedBird’s funds’.
RedBird are reflecting on the accusatory apparatus brought forward by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office and what emerges, in fact, is amazement at the contents.
For example in the part where reference is made to the ‘AC Milan Investor Presentation’, i.e. an alleged presentation document of the Rossoneri club made available to potential Arab investors, in which it is however stated in black and white that RedBird holds 99.9 % of Milan.
Or regarding Elliott’s association with Lille, a French club in which – it is pointed out – Elliott never had any shares in, but had instead simply granted a loan to their old owner.
With regards to the fact Elliott kept involvement in the board at Milan, that is because they are protecting their position as a creditor after RedBird opted for a vendor loan from Elliott, instead of turning to an investment bank.
Finally, the top levels of RedBird are adamant that Elliott did not have and does not have shares in Milan (initially it seemed like this could be the case, but then the hypothesis waned) and, with a loan at around 7% interest, they will earn regardless.
For the moment, however, we remain in the field of reflections and deductions, waiting for the investigation to take its course and for RedBird’s amazement to transform into a real defence.
RedBird and Elliott are amazed of the incompetence of the authorities in the place where they own a club.
Italy is known for its proficient and well run government and bureaucracy…. LOL
This feels like a which hunt. Probably triggered by Sala…
Or Juve. “Funny” that this started right after Milan overtook them.
Italy and Serie A thrive on chaos. Whenever there’s one in a club, a cup follows. Time to win that Europa League (or Serie A, or both)! LOL
Forza Milan
There’s no story here. Just sensationalism of Italian media and the government. What a joke.
How are you so sure? I mean it could be a nothing but people’s homes got raided and warrant executed by a judge. That’s not something light. On the other hand the charges “seem” light but I’m not a lawyer/business law expert.
Because this is someone grasping at straws and trying to muddy the waters. My guess is BlueSkye, who lost a lawsuit against Elliott recently and now are butt hurt.
There are no grounds here. Elliott has been at this for a while. They stand to profit. They have no reason to jeopardize this deal by holding onto Milan? Their asset portfolio is in excess of 60bil. Milan is worth only what 1.2? It just doesn’t add up.
Not gonna lie, shady charges occur all the time in Italy. I do find the charges very odd though so something feels missing. They don’t seem materially dangerous. I can’t see how any party benefits or if through matter of procedure the real problem at hand. On the other hand, if Gerry had enough money in the first place, all this wouldn’t have needed to take place and he’d be the true sole owner 🤷♂️
No man. There is no evidence for any wrongdoing here. This is just more work of an overzealous prosecutor looking for dirty where there is none. Gerry had plenty of money. Look at his assets.
Elliot are not some upstanding company, they are famous for being the most predatory of vulture funds who have used all sorts of dark practices to make money.
We will see what sticks and hopefully the club is not sanctioned
I wouldn’t jump to conclusions everyone, there is clearly some smoke that attracted the hounds.
Can Milan, Elliot and RedBird sue Italy for Libel and defamation?