US investment fund RedBird completes €1.2 billion AC Milan takeover

AC Milan said Wednesday that investment fund RedBird had completed the acquisition of the Italian champions from rival US group Elliott Management for 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

Serie A giants Milan said in their statement  Major League Baseball giants the New York Yankees will also have a “minority equity stake” in Milan, who won their first Serie A title in 11 years last season, through their owners Yankee Global Enterprises.

“We will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch,” said RedBird’s founder Gerry Cardinale in the statement.

“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 purchase of Milan comes after they bought a minority stake last year in Fenway Sports Group, the owners of Liverpool and MLB team Boston Red Sox and a majority stake in French Ligue 1 club Toulouse in 2020.

Elliott acquired Milan in 2018 when Chinese businessman Li Yonghong was unable to repay a loan he had taken out when he bought the club from Silvio Berlusconi’s Fininvest in 2017.

Italy’s former prime minister Berlusconi had owned the club since 1986 and in the intervening three decades had made Milan a global football powerhouse, crowned European champions five times between 1989 and 2007.

Milan had been dogged by financial problems and sub-standard performances on the pitch after winning the league in 2011, a second-place finish in 2021 announcing their return as a challenger for trophies.

They declared losses for that season of 96 million euros, down from a deficit of 195 million euros in 2020. Accounts for last season are yet to be published.