Despite the fact they only bought the club just over a year ago, RedBird Capital could well soon receive a lucrative offer to sell AC Milan from the Middle East.
Italian journalist Maurizio Pistocchi claims the PIF are keeping tabs on both Milan and Inter having seemingly gone cold on the idea of acquiring Juventus. The Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and they own majority shares in four of the Saudi League’s most popular clubs Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Hilal.
Pistocchi suggests on Twitter that they first tried to buy a minority share of Juventus from EXOR but things did not really get to an advanced stage, however they are still keen to buy an Italian side. We have translated his tweet below.
“One year ago – 28 November – the wholesale resignation of the board of directors and the president, Agnelli . Since 2019 – the year of Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing – Juve has accumulated losses of €719.4m, which have forced the parent company Exor to make 4 capital increases for a total of €900m,” he said.
“Juventus currently on the stock market capitalises €631m, €300m less than what was injected by the parent company, while in 2019 it capitalised €1.7bn. In 4 years, the management of the club has burned €2bn, and in February 2024 the €175m (€#CR7Bond) expires, a bond that is not guaranteed but which Exor will certainly honour.
“In this context, the owners negotiated with the Arab fund PIF for the sale of a minority share, a negotiation that did not go beyond a letter of intent: the Arabs were not interested in a minority share, and the overall valuation of the club made by the owners had been €2bn, while the fund valued the company at €1.4bn.
“Having abandoned Juventus, today the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia is looking with interest at two Serie A clubs: Inter – for which the evolution of the situation is awaited, linked to the refinancing of the Oaktree bond of €275m expiring in February 2024, and Milan, for which, coincidentally, there is a request for €1.4bn.”
The differing financial situations of Milan and Inter were recently outlined in a piece by The Athletic, but the shortened version is that the Rossoneri are debt-free and posted a profit last year while their city rivals are in a lot more difficulty.
