American investment firm RedBird Capital bought AC Milan for £1bn

(Football news) American investment group RedBird Capital reached an agreement to buy AC Milan from Elliott Advisors. The deal massively helps AC Milan, who were recently crowned Serie A champions for the first time in 11 years. The American investment firm will pay around 1.2bn euros (£1bn) to complete the takeover. RedBird Capital also owns a stake in Fenway Sports Group, who are the owners of Liverpool, baseball team the Boston Red Sox and 15% stake in Rajasthan Royals. Elliott, who took over the club from businessman Li Yonghong when the club was at its lowest and with his vision he helped bring the glory days back to Milan. He will still retain a minority stake and seats on the board of directors.

Milan claim that the transition to new ownership will take place over the summer and that the deal will be completed in September, which means that Elliott and co. will still be in charge of the players coming in this summer. Elliott took over the historic club four years ago when Chinese businessman Li Yonghong failed to meet some obligations on and off the pitch as he had a financial package ready for the purchase of the club from Silvio Berlusconi in 2017. Then U.S.- based hedge firm Elliott came into ownership of Milan in 2018 after the club’s Chinese owner failed to repay part of a loan. Before that, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi was in charge of the Rossenari for more than 30 years before selling the club to the Chinese group in 2017.

Milan after the takeover had finished sixth a couple of months before Elliott took over. The club during that period was also embroiled in a case with UEFA over financial fair play breaches that saw them withdraw from the 2019-2020 Europa League to avoid any further penalties. Elliott, who's going to retain a minority stake in the club, was hell bent on selling Milan to a private equity firm based in Bahrain but the exclusive negotiations ended after it failed to come to a commercial agreement with Investcorp. This opportunity paved the way for RedBird to enter and their founder Cardinale was pictured celebrating Milan’s title triumph in front of the city’s iconic cathedral in Piazza Duomo with thousands of Milan fans

"We are honoured to be a part of AC Milan's illustrious history and are excited to play a role in the club's next chapter as it returns to its rightful place at the very top of Italian, European and world football," RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale said.

Elliott's Gordon Singer added: "When Elliott acquired AC Milan in 2018, we inherited a club with a tremendous history, but with serious financial problems and a mediocre sporting performance.

"Our plan was simple: to create financial stability, and to return AC Milan to where it belongs in European football. Today, I believe we have accomplished both. As we make this remarkable transition to AC Milan’s next chapter, I want to express our deepest sense of humility, pride and above all gratitude for the experiences we have shared with each member of the AC Milan family.”

“I want to thank Gordon Singer and the entire Elliott team for the tremendous work they have done over the last four years in rebuilding Milan and returning it to its rightful place at the top of Serie A,” Cardinale said.

Cardinale added “RedBird’s investment philosophy and track record in team ownership has shown that football clubs can be successful on the pitch and sustainable off it.”

Also read: Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard leave Manchester United

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