The Arabs arrive. In the endless and tormenting (for the fans) saga of the sale of the Sampdoriaafter the Anglo-Americans of the Cerberus-Redrock ticket, an Arab group takes the field that refers to the financier Fahad Al Gergawisupermanager of Dubai Development Investment Agencyvery close to the powerful family Al Maktoumwhose leading exponent, theEmir Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum chairs the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and is also the vice president and prime minister of his country. The Emir of Dubai, second Forbesis credited with a personal fortune of 16 billion dollars. Big Mo, as he is affectionately called by his subjects, he will be 73 years old the day after tomorrow, July 15. He had seven wives and had 23 children with them. His great passions are dromedary and horse racing and poetry, in which he has been involved since he was young.
A first meeting between Sampdoria and Al Gergawi had already taken place at the end of 2021, the accountant Vidal, who holds Sampdoria in the Rosan trust (as I explain below) had flown to Dubai and met with the financier. A visit that was not liked by Ferrero, still president, who had flatly denied the contact with the financier. Now the name of Al Gergawi is back to the surface and the deal has a much more substantial consistency.
It will not be Emir Al Maktoum in first person, of course, to engage in the climb to Sampdoria, but a company led by Al Gergawi and financed by Arab capital and partners of various nationalities. The financial power of this aggregation would be such as to wipe out any contender in the race for the Sampdoria company. However, the assignment passes through the trust under international law in which its owner had cocooned it in January 2020, Massimo Ferrero, now accused of 36 corporate, bankruptcy and tax crimes relating to four of his Calabrian companies declared bankrupt. The trial is set to begin on 21 September.
For some time the Gulf countries have turned many of their investments on European football. The Manchester City belongs to the Emirati tycoon Mansour bin Zayid al Nahyanrecently also the Palermo entered the galaxy of football clubs that belong to the City. The Newcastle it recently came under the control of the Pif, the Sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia. The Psg belongs to the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, a name that had been compared, somewhat arbitrarily, also to the consortium formed by the former Sampdoria player Ivano Bonetti and to the film producer Franco Di Silvio, who some time ago had expressed interest in Sampdoria. Nothing is accidental, it is instead a strategy by the rulers of the Gulf countries who have identified football as a vehicle for their investments and a tool for penetrating European entrepreneurial realities linked to sport and leisureleisure. It is a goal shared by American investment funds whose presence in Italian football is becoming more massive. Rome, Spezia, Atalanta (in joint venture with the Percassi), Fiorentina (with a single owner, Commisso), Genoa, Parma, Venice, Ascoli and the Bologna which is headed by the Canadian entrepreneur Saputo have entered the orbit of overseas investors.
The offers advanced to acquire Sampdoria will have to pass through two agreements approved by the bankruptcy court of Rome and will be examined by the trusteethe Venetian accountant Gianluca Vidal, who will eventually have to choose which one to favor in view of the satisfaction of the creditors of the Ferrero companies and, hopefully, also in consideration of the interests of Sampdoria. That in these difficult months, followed by a troubled salvation. survives in ordinary administration guaranteed by a small board of directors chaired by Marco Lannaformer footballer of the team that won the Scudetto in ’91 and composed by the lawyer Antonio Romei and by the councilors Gianni Panconi And Alberto Bosco, the last two are the men of the accounts. Having respected the parameters set to obtain registration for the next Serie A championship, the club is forced to practice an austerity policy on the market, limiting investments as much as possible in the face of sales that allow it to raise cash and reduce the amount of wages. Also in this perspective, the lack of contractual renewals of Ekdal (in negotiation with La Spezia) e Yoshida who signed for Shalke 04.
The raid on the scene of the group linked to the Emir of Dubai upsets the scenario that should end with the sale of the club in safe hands. The Arab group is determined to tighten the time and to face and beat the competition, making an offer to which it would be difficult to answer no. At the moment the only suitors who have concretely manifested themselves are precisely those gathered in the joint venture between the US private equity fund Cerberus Capital Investment and the English company Redstonespecialized in the construction and management of sports facilities (they are taking care of the construction of the stadium for the Golden State Warriors, a franchise of the US NBA). The Anglo-American tandem is preparing to submit a non-binding purchase offer that will give it access to the data room that holds the company’s accounts. If the checks were successful, a preliminary contract would follow that could pave the way for the signing of the sales contract and the following one closing of the operation. A rather complex process destined to last no less than a couple of months.
With the entry on the scene of the Arab consortium, a head to head is announced that will make the hearts of the fans beat, exhausted by the very long tiramolla around the fate of the company. Last aspect, but far from negligible: the management in charge of taking over from the current one governance. From what has transpired the Anglo-Americans, if they end up winning the derby with the Arabs, they would be inclined to confirm the current management, led by Lanna, in the first few months. While Al Gergawi’s group would have in mind to start from scratch, inserting men they trust in every articulation of the company. Inevitably, our thoughts turn to Gianluca Vialli, the great ex. In the summer of 2019, the former Sampdoria and Juventus striker arrived with the support of the tycoon Americans Dinan And Knaster (now the majority shareholder of Pisa) one step away from acquiring Sampdoria. The price was set at 80 million cash. Ferrero agreed but at the last moment he pulled back and the deal fell through. Today we will need a more substantial financial commitment: the club’s debts have risen from 60 to 130 million and at least 20 million must be allocated to the two life-saving agreements of the Ferrero companies. In total, therefore, whoever wins will have to bear a sum of no less than 150 million euros. Probably even higher to convince Vidal, who as keeper of the Sampdoria club will have the last word, to accept the purchase offer.