While we wait for concrete developments regarding the future of AC Milan, Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital empire continues to expand at a rapid rate.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport talk about the entrepreneurial vision of Cardinale, a businessman accustomed to looking well beyond the confines of just a sporting event and instead looking to exploit the links with the media industry.
The latest big deal handled by RedBird’s number one goes in this direction, which allowed Skydance Media – an American production company – to reach an agreement with Paramount for the acquisition of a majority shareholding, quantifiable at around two thirds of the total stake.
The merger is awaiting approval from Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, but a deal has been struck anyway. In terms of numbers, Skydance and RedBird would contribute $1.5bn to Paramount’s balance sheet, to help reduce debt.
The entire deal is valued at $8bn, $3bn more than the previous offer. It should be remembered that Paramount has held the Serie A rights for the USA for the last three years, just as the partnership with Inter, of which it had been the shirt sponsor, expires at the end of the month.
The acquisition of Paramount is a consortium made up of Skydance and the private equity firms RedBird and KKR. Cardinale, therefore, continues with the financial and strategic expansion linked to his fund, with imaginable future repercussions also on the Rossoneri world.
Calcio e Finanza reported last month that RedBird has ‘renewed its arsenal of deals’ with $4.7bn (at current exchange rates, €4.3bn) to invest in more sports, media and financial services businesses after two years filled with some high-profile transactions.