China’s presence in Italian football just got bigger with the announcement on Thursday of the takeover of Italian football club AC Milan by a Chinese consortium.
“Today Fininvest has completed the sale of the entire stake owned in AC Milan - equal to 99.93 percent - to Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux,” AC Milan said in a statement on its website.
The Chinese-led consortium Rossoneri now succeeds Fininvest, a holding of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as owner of seven-time European champions AC Milan.
Chinese Han Li (R) and Italian Marco Fassone (L), representatives of Chinese consortium Sino-Europe Sports (SES) arrive to finalize the deal with Fininvest, the Silvio Berlusconi holding, for the AC Milan's takeover on April 13, 2017 in Milan. /VCG Photo
The sale was made for 740 million euros (786,000 US dollars), which includes 220 million euros in debt, the club’s statement said.
The deal is the biggest Chinese investment in a European club yet, and comes after the takeover of AC Milan’s cross-town rivals Inter Milan by Chinese retail giant Suning Commerce Group, Reuters news agency reported.
An initial agreement to sell AC Milan was made in August but it later ran into delays.
Chinese companies have been increasing their stakes in top foreign football clubs, from Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, as the Chinese Super League gobbles up foreign players. China has been pouring money into the sport with the hope of hosting the World Cup by 2030.
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