It has now been confirmed that RedBird Capital Partners have today completed the acquisition of AC Milan in a deal worth €1.2bn.
A statement on the club’s official website confirmed that RedBird are the new owners of the club, completing the takeover from fellow American fund Elliott Management.
They inherit a team that has won 19 Serie A titles, 7 Champions Leagues/European Cups, 7 Supercoppa Italiana titles, 5 Coppa Italias, 5 European Super Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups, 2 European Cup Winners’ Cups, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.
The statement adds that RedBird ‘will continue to invest in all the key areas’ that will advance the ‘sporting and commercial interests’ of the Rossoneri.
Moreover, they are intent on ‘building on last season’s achievements’ that culminated in the Scudetto with their experience in ‘operating and building global sports businesses’.
They add how their project will help create the ‘next chapter in Milan’s storied history’ and ‘will build on its current momentum’.
Priority areas of focus include supporting the club’s sporting and business leadership to ensure that the team is consistently competitive at the highest levels of football; ensuring that it has the infrastructure and facilities befitting one of the world’s most prominent sporting organisations; and strengthening the Club’s women’s and youth teams, as well as its charitable arm, Fondazione Milan.
Gerry Cardinale, RedBird Founder and Managing Partner, said: “Our vision for Milan is clear: we will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch and allow our fans to share in the extraordinary experiences of this historic club.
“We will look to leverage our global sports and media network, our analytics expertise, our track record in sports stadium developments and hospitality to deliver one goal – maintaining Milan’s place at the summit of European and world football.”
The deal will also see Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE) – owner of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball – buy a minority equity stake in Milan. RedBird has a longstanding relationship with the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family, meaning the Yankees Entertainment Sports (YES) Network will be utilised.
On the partnership with YGE, Cardinale added: “We have a multi-decade relationship with the New York Yankees and the Steinbrenner family that has resulted in the creation of some of the most successful businesses in sports, entertainment and hospitality.
“We are very pleased to continue our partnership with them and will look to explore opportunities together to broaden our fan reach and expand commercial opportunities that are only available to franchises that operate at the highest levels of sports globally.”
