A purchase price of more than one billion euros is under discussion, reports AP, Reuters and Bloomberg. It would be the first takeover of a Serie A club by a Middle Eastern investor. The Bahrain-based venture capital firm’s talks with AC Milan have reportedly started this month.
Milan is currently owned by the American investment company Elliott Management Corporation. The club did not want to comment when asked by Reuters, so a spokesman only said: “AC Milan remain focused on improving their performance on the pitch and developing the club.”
Berlusconi’s Milan via China into American control
AC Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, but the best days are longer. Milan won the last of their 18 championships in 2011, and the club last won the Champions League in 2007. The club celebrated these successes under Silvia Berlusconi, who controlled Milan for a long time, but sold them to the Chinese investor Li Yonghong in 2018 for 740 million euros including debt. Elliott later took over the club because the Chinese investor partially failed to repay loans.
The team around Zlatan Ibrahimovic was eliminated from the Champions League in the 2021/22 season after the group stage. In the previous seasons it was usually only enough for the Europa League, in the meantime the club had been banned for a year for violating UEFA’s financial fair play. In Serie A, however, Milan is promising for the championship this season.
New stadium planned for Milan and Inter
AC Milan and Inter are planning a new joint stadium designed by American architects Populous. The project is called “The Cathedral”. The home games of the Milan clubs are to be played in the stadium from 2027. It is not known whether the possible change of ownership could have an impact on these plans.
The new building is intended to replace the legendary San Siro Stadium.
Numerous Serie A clubs under foreign control
Several Serie A clubs are managed from abroad. Inter Milan is under the control of Chinese investors while AS Roma, Fiorentina and Atalanta Bergamo are majority American-owned.
So far, investors from the Middle East have played a role elsewhere: Paris Saint-Germain is owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Newcastle United is controlled from Saudi Arabia, Manchester City from Abu Dhabi.
Source: dpa