RedBird Capital appears to be outpacing Investcorp in the race to acquire Italian Serie A champions, AC Milan.
RedBird has reportedly reached a preliminary agreement on a deal worth around $1.4 billion with outgoing owner Elliott Management, and it could be announced as soon as next week.
Investcorp’s exclusive negotiation period with Elliott Management expired at the end of April, but the asset manager was still holding takeover discussions.
RedBird, which manages around $6 billion in assets, swooped in after Investcorp’s exclusive talks ended. Should a deal go through, AC Milan would strengthen RedBird’s already robust sports portfolio.
RedBird purchased an 11% stake in Fenway Sports Group for around $750 million last year.
FSG, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC.
In 2020, RedBird purchased an 85% stake in Toulouse FC, which secured a promotion back to Ligue 1 from Ligue 2 last month.
Elliott Management will continue to hold a minority stake in AC Milan. The fund manager took over the team in 2018 following financial challenges faced by former owner Yonghong Li.
RedBird Capital will reportedly like to keep AC Milan’s directors, Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara, if successful with its bid.
