Investcorp seem to have cooled their interest in purchasing AC Milan from Elliott Management after competition from RedBird. ‘Let’s leave aside any AC Milan deal for now…’
The Bahrain-based investment company had generally not been involved in sport until now, so their takeover bid for the Serie A side at a cost of €1.1bn raised eyebrows.
That had seemed to be on the verge of completion when problems arose and a new offer came in from RedBird, who are connected to Premier League giants Liverpool as well as other sporting ventures in the USA.
Gulfnews.com spoke to Investcorp Co-CEO Rishi Kapoor to ask about the state of play with the Milan takeover and what this means for the bigger picture of their portfolio going forward. Is it a done deal?
“At this stage, it’s not possible to comment. But it’s a fact that Investcorp hasn’t had any direct exposure to sporting franchises anywhere. What we do have is an investment in United Talent Agency in the US, which apart from entertainers and artists also represents and works closely with sports personalities.
“Through United Talent Agency, we do have a pretty strong appreciation and understanding of how the business operates in the US. And sports is a key component of the entertainment market today.
“Let’s leave aside any AC Milan deal for now…”
Multiple reports in Italy and elsewhere have suggested RedBird have the upper hand because of their experience in sports franchises.
They are also proposing €1bn in equity, whereas Investcorp would cover some of the takeover bid with loans, something that worried Elliott Management.
After all, Elliott came to own Milan after previous owner Yonghong Li defaulted on loan repayments to them.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m glad. Hope they are not the ones.
Let’s see what happens. I am pretty happy with Elliott tbh
I’m also not sad to see “Investcorp” walk away. Redbird seems to have the more serious people and experience in sports management. Elliott is also doing a fine job. Now let’s win the scudetto, make some smart purchases on the market this summer as we have been doing for the past two or three seasons, and continue on the path of growth.
I think this will all blow up in Elliotts face to be honest.
I got the impression they were trying to lure Investcorp in and then play the old ‘theres another buyer interested’ card, but Investcorp were wise to the game and instead walked away and called E’s bluff.
So next season Milan will struggle for transfer funds again as Elliott keep a tight control of the purse.
Ditto, ditto, and ditto to the above comments. Let’s see how the Redbird deal shakes out…they may be more in for the long haul. Right now, I just care about a win on Sunday to seal the championship deal.
Bye! I’d prefer to stay with Elliot and build as we have been for the last few seasons. For now at least.
The problem of having so much hope on Elliott Management is, they bought Milan to sell at profitable value. They are here for short term only.
Milan should be sold to any serious investors!
I just hope Eliott don’t ‘play’ too much with the bids. It seems they just want to get max profit from Milan sale. While I respect for what they’ve done as owner, the main credit should go to Maldini co for the smart signings despite the limited funds. Having Investcorp/Redbird as owner will at least ensure more funds to sign better players and build Milan’s own stadium.
Whatever milan touches takes weeks, months and years to mature ….. let’s hope the bird will not fly away …..