Investcorp have suspended their plans to buy AC Milan from Elliott Management according to a source close to the negotiation, it is claimed.
It has been reported for weeks now that Investcorp had emerged as the probably new owners of Milan having begun talks with Elliott over the acquisition of the club in a deal worth over €1bn, even having completed the due diligence process, but then speculation about doubts over the structure of the deal and the possible presence of debt slowed things down.
According to reports from Reuters (via MilanNews), the Bahrain-based fund Investcorp have put suspended their plans to buy Milan. This was reported by a source close to the negotiation who stated that, during the talks with Elliott, Investcorp ‘could not agree with them on the resolution of a certain issue’.
It comes after this morning’s edition of Il Sole 24 Ore (via MilanNews) reported that that Elliott are very likely sell to their compatriots RedBird Capital who have overcome the competition of Investcorp in the last few hours with an offer of €1.3bn, which could rise to €1.8bn.
I prefer Eliot over Redbird. Atleast we will be financially healthy. Don’t expect a lot of difference with Redbird guys.
Sad…was hoping they purchased the club. Let’s hope Redbird invest in a stadium and players but I’m not confident and feel they will run the club more like Elliot – which isn’t a bad thing but likely won’t have the same investment ambitions in stadium, youth sector and new players. I hope I am wrong
Elliot have been trying to get a new stadium project for years.
The purpose of an investment group buying a football club isn’t to siphon off small amounts of TV income each year, it’s to raise the value of the asset. That’s why Elliot have invested and covered loss after loss, because they’ve been ensuring the business stays valuable.
A new stadium owned by the club and not the council is the #1 way that this value can be increased and you can be sure whoever takes over will try this as a priority.