MFO’s Managing Director Carmine Villani, who was involved in Investcorp’s talks to acquire Milan in 2022, now reveals the Rossoneri would have had a €300m-400m transfer budget if the Bahrain-based fund had closed the deal.
Gerry Cardinale’s RebBird Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the Rossoneri in August from Elliott for €1.2b. The previous owners partially financed the acquisition through a ‘vendor loan’ and kept a minority stake in the club.
Bahrain-based fund Investcorp had previously approached Elliott, trying to acquire the Serie A giants, but eventually abandoned talks after several weeks of negotiations that had seen Carmine Villani’s MFO involved as Investcorp’s partner.
“I can’t discuss the details, but I can confirm that our group was ready to acquire a majority stake in Milan and grant €300m-400m for transfers to bring the club back to the top of European football as their history deserves,” Villani told Repubblica.
“If Elliott wanted, we would have let them keep a minority stake in the club.”
Milan’s transfer strategies haven’t changed with Cardinale at the helm of the club. The Rossoneri still have a low transfer budget and could only spend €50m last summer. It is believed that director Paolo Maldini will have to deal with similar figures during the next transfer window.