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1st LD Writethru: Preliminary contract signed for Chinese investors to buy AC Milan

Xinhua, August 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

A consortium of Chinese investors has bought Italian AC Milan soccer team, according to a preliminary contract signed between the club's owner and Chinese investors.

Silvio Berlusconi, Chairman of AC Milan, has approved the preliminary contract signed between Fininvest and Chinese investors concerning the purchase of the entire stake owned by Fininvest in AC Milan equal to 99.93 percent, Fininvest announced Friday.

The historic football club, which has long belonged to Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi through his family holding Fininvest, was sold for some 740 million euros (818 million U.S. dollars), Ansa news agency reported.

The total value of the purchase included some 220 million euros (243 million U.S. dollars) of debt.

The preliminary contract was signed by Chinese investors gathered into Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Company, Fininvest said.

"President Silvio Berlusconi approved the preliminary agreement related to the sale of the entire stake of 99.93 percent held by Fininvest in the AC Milan," the company said in a statement.

The binding agreement was signed by Fininvest managing director Danilo Pellegrino, and the representative of the Chinese investors, Han Li, and would be finalized by the end of 2016.

With the signing, the Chinese purchasers committed themselves to "carry out relevant capital increases and financial injections for a total amount of 350 million over a period of three years," Fininvest added.

Negotiations for the takeover of AC Milan have been going on for more than a year, and were frequently delayed, La Repubblica daily recalled.

Yet, they saw a swift acceleration in recent days, and the preliminary agreement allowed the club to operate more freely on the market lately, as the recent purchase of 23-year-old Paraguayan defender Gustavo Gomez for about 8 million euros (8.85 million U.S. dollars) would prove, according to the newspaper.

The consortium of Chinese investors consists, among others, Haixia Capital, the State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC), and Yonghong Li, chairman of the management company, Fininvest said in the statement.

A.C. Milan was founded in 1899, and is one of the most iconic soccer clubs at domestic and world level. The preliminary contract signed by the two parties on Friday put an end to 30 years of ownership by Silvio Berlusconi.

It also marked the second takeover of an Italian major soccer team by Chinese investors.

In early June, Chinese electronic retail giant Suning Commerce Co Ltd agreed to take control of 68.55 percent of Inter Milan, the main city rival of AC Milan, for some 270 million euros. Endit