The prosecutors who are looking into AC Milan’s ownership situation are on the hunt for a ‘faceless’ third party who are acting as a mediator in discussions with potential investors, a report claims.
It is hard to succinctly summarise everything we know so far about the investigation into Milan by the Prosecutor’s Office, but an article with some frequently asked questions (and answers) from earlier today should bring you up to speed.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, there is a ‘common thread that ties Elliott to RedBird’ which is a ‘third man, a still faceless figure to whom investigators are trying to give a name’.
They are acting as a sort of ‘mediator’ appointed by RedBird’s top management to deal with PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The Public Investment Fund own four teams in the Saudi Pro League, bought Newcastle in 2021 and were ready to take over 41.7% of Milan’s shares by repurchasing 80% of the €560m loan.
The magistrates of the Milan Prosecutor’s Office – Giovanni Polizzi and Giovanna Cavalleri – are trying to identify the figure in charge of dealing with the Saudis by the Rossoneri top brass. The importance of this is clear and fundamental for the prosecutors’ reasoning.
If the ‘mediator’ in question were to be linked in some way to Elliott, then the object of the investigations would take a very different turn because it could demonstrate that the club are still under the disguised control of Paul Singer’s fund.
According to the investigators, Elliott – despite RedBird’s flat denial through a statement – are still in control of Milan. Another key word in the search is recapitalisation, i.e. bringing new investors into the club, such as the aforementioned PIF.
This is one of the possible reasons why (again according to the prosecutor’s investigations) Elliott decided to maintain control of Milan in a veiled way. All this is taking into account that Elliott collects interest at 7% on the €560m loan granted to the ‘buyer’, i.e. RedBird.
In summary, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, Elliott have continued to manage Milan and could now earn from the entry of new partners. No interviews are scheduled at the moment and the FIGC have not submitted a formal request for documents to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
“I am the owner of Milan, but this is a secret (laughs).
There was an investigation, but they didn’t find anything. The owner of Milan is RedBird.
The prosecutor’s office about to raid Casa Milan now trying to confiscate Zlatan’s phone and computer.
The Procura di Milano and the Guardia di Finanza are showing that they are thoroughly unfamiliar with what a vendor’s loan consists of. The American SEC would have no trouble understanding the issue.
Bloomberg has issued a statement that if the Italians show this much unsophistication around these matters, it will discourage future American investments in Italy, with economic consequences for Italy. This could potentially turn into a diplomatic issue. Maybe someone from the central administration in Rome will slap the Milano people, and tell them, what the hell are you doing???
The preposterous accusations are actually embarrassing. They are as primitive as claiming that Elliott and RedBird are still tied, because they share the same corporate address, not knowing that the address is a hub in Delaware that congregates no fewer than 300,000 companies including American Airlines, Microsoft, Apple, etc., because Delaware gives special perks to companies willing to register there. The common address proves nothing and claiming that it does is laughable.
Yes, Elliott has a representative in Milan’s board. That’s standard practice, to protect their interests given that they are the creditors of the vendor’s loan. That doesn’t mean they control Milan (they currently own no shares of Milan, and the board position is not even a voting one) like the idiotic prosecutors are thinking. What a shame.
They claim that Gerry Cardinale is not the owner of Milan like he says and Milan says, because the owner is a fund called RB Fund IV. Well, it turns out that RB Fund IV is owned by… Gerry Cardinale!!! LOL
The prosecutor’s case is misguided, weak, easy to defend against, and thoroughly laughable.
Hopefully this witch hunt will end in shame for the Procura di Milano and the Guardia di Finanza. They should start learning a bit about Mergers and Acquisitions. Jesus!
Haha the SEC, the official carpet of Wall Street. Americans making fun of Italy while Donald Trump for president is on the headlines of every US newspapers. What a time to be alive.
Do you have a point that would contest anything I have said, or you just want to score cheap shot points bashing the SEC and Donald Trump? What exactly does Donald Trump have to do with this??? I’m not a Trump supporter but I don’t see the relevance of your point. And yes, the SEC maybe is the official carpet of Wall Street but they do know what they are doing regarding financial practices and legislation; apparently, unlike the Procura di Milano and the Guardia di Finanza.
By the way, I’m Italian, so your point about “Americans making fun of Italy” has nothing to do with me. But yes, Bloomberg is right about being appaled at the Procura di Milano’s unsophistication, given that the accusations are preposterous and are proof of ignorance of the most basic M&A procedures. Maybe the prosecutor doesn’t know better (he should get informed, though, before embarrassing himself) but the Guardia di Finanza ignoring what’s a vendor’s loan is laughable.
“Yes, Elliott has a representative in Milan’s board. That’s standard practice, to protect their interests given that they are the creditors of the vendor’s loan. That doesn’t mean they control Milan (they currently own no shares of Milan, and the board position is not even a voting one) like the idiotic prosecutors are thinking. What a shame.”
Elliott has one board member. Oaktree has 2 in Inter’s. So there’s twice as many solid evidence Oaktree owns Inter and not Zhang, right? 🙂
I have never been more in favor for a super league than now
Its too suspicious, with the investigation right after Milan again said want to move to new stadium. they trying to block additional fund for new stadium.
anyway, i dont understand what is the problem if redbird hire elliot to find investors in Saudi. As long as Elliot is not the head, its no problem right?
better go to inter, ask how they have so much money even though the club account is Red. This cannot be legal
I’m quite sure that whoever the mediator is, he/she has nothing to do with Elliott. But like you said, even if he/she were linked with Elliott, this would not be illegal.
Elliott’s only participation in this, is that they have a non-voting board member at Milan, which is standard practice when you grant a vendor’s loan, and has absolutely nothing to do with controlling Milan, like the prosecutor mistakenly believes.
That’s not it. During the negotiations in Saudia somebody thought they saw or heard something in regards to Elliott in talks with PIF investment.
Now they are grasping at straws trying to find something. Italy loves a scandal.