By Paul Nicholson
May 11 – The Berlusconi family, owners of Italy’s AC Milan, have opened exclusive talks for the sale of a majority stake in the club to a group of Chinese investors.
It is understood that the time limit on the negotiation exclusivity is one month, by the end of which the Chinese will have committed to buy, or not.
The price the Chinese want to pay, for an initial 70% stake is reported to be €750 million ($854 million) that includes the debt the club has built. Berlusconi says that under his ownership he has invested more than €1 billion in the club and in the last season alone says he pumped in €152 million.
The club reported a loss of €93.5 million in its last financial statement but needs more cash to challenge Europe’s elite. One sales scenario is that the Chinese will settle on a figure that is acceptable to Berlusconi but likely less than he has invested in the club to date, but his remaining 30% will be sold at a premium for him to recoup all his money and potentially a profit over the next 12 months.
Berlusconi has owned AC Milan since 1986 during which time the club has won five European titles and registered eight Serie A league wins.
But AC Milan aren’t the only Milan club courting Chinese investment. City rivals Inter Milan, majority owned by Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir, have also been trawling Chinese investment markets. Thohir’s activity in the market is unlikely to help Berlusconi achieve the price he wants.
It is not just in Italy where Chinese investors look to be in club acquisition mode. In England, Aston Villa, who will be relegated from the Premier League this season, are reported to be in the final negotiations of a deal to sell the club to Chinese investors for £100 million.
The club’s US owner Randy Lerner has been in charge for a decade over which time his losses have reached £275 million. Villa are reckoned to be one of England’s ‘big’ clubs but have struggled as Lerner has stopped feeding cash into the playing side. Even so, Villa will be one of the favourites to return to the Premier League next season, which could make a £100 million acquisition now look like good business.
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