With news Yonghong Li has changed the terms to scupper the takeover talks with Rocco Commisso, some suggest Elliott Management are behind the strategy.
This evening, Sky Sport Italia and Tuttosport both reported that negotiations had been on the verge of a deal for €500m plus coverage of the debt owed to Elliott Management (€380m due in October).
With news Yonghong Li has changed the terms to scupper the takeover talks with Rocco Commisso, some suggest Elliott Management are behind the strategy.
This evening, Sky Sport Italia and Tuttosport both reported that negotiations had been on the verge of a deal for €500m plus coverage of the debt owed to Elliott Management (€380m due in October).
However, today Yonghong Li called and changed the terms of the agreement, insisting he wanted to retain over 25 per cent of the club rather than the previous 15-20 per cent.
This infuriated US billionaire and NY Cosmos owner Commisso, who is now ready to walk away.
According to Andrea Montanari of Milano Finanza – who had originally identified Commisso as the main negotiator – has a different view of the situation.
He suggests via Twitter that Elliott Management are pulling the strings and told Yonghong Li to reject the offer.
That is because they know that they’ll have 100 per cent ownership of Milan if he doesn’t meet the October deadline to repay the €303m loan (which with interest is €380m).
Elliott are a vulture fund, who choose assets in trouble and then aim to repossess them at a cut price.
If Yonghong Li fails to meet the October deadline, Elliott Management will own Milan for an output of €303m, whereas the club was purchased for €740m in April 2017.
“It’s inexplicable,” wrote Montanari. “More than a game of poker, Yonghong Li is playing Russian Roulette.”