Business
American investment firm RedBird buys AC Milan for £1bn
RedBird Capital, an American investment company, has completed a deal to purchase AC Milan from Elliott Advisors.
The transaction values AC Milan, the reigning Serie A champions, at €1.2 billion (£1 billion).
The deal calls for Yankee Global Enterprises, owners of the New York Yankees baseball team, to purchase a small share in the squad.
The most popular regional sports network in the country, the Yankees Entertainment Sports (YES) Network, is co-owned by RedBird.
The relationship between RedBird and the New York Yankees, according to RedBird creator Gerry Cardinale, will enable them to “explore opportunities together to broaden our fan reach and expand commercial opportunities globally”.
He added: “Our vision for Milan is clear: we will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch and allow our fans to share in the extraordinary experiences of this historic club.
“We will look to leverage our global sports and media network, our analytics expertise, our track record in sports stadium developments and hospitality to deliver one goal – maintaining Milan’s place at the summit of European and world football.”
RedBird’s sports portfolio, which is worth $7.5 billion (£6.5 billion), includes investments in Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox, as well as Toulouse of the French Ligue 1 and Rajasthan Royals of the Indian Premier League.
Elliott Advisors, who acquired AC Milan from Chinese tycoon Li Yonghong four years prior, were confirmed to maintain a minority share and seats on the board when the purchase for the club was finalised in June.
AC Milan, who won their first Serie A title in 11 years in May, are currently undefeated and third in the table, after winning two and drawing two of their first four games, sit behind Inter Milan and Roma, the league’s top two teams.
