Chinese Milan takeover still on hold

The saga around the sale of AC Milan to Chinese investors rumbles on and now it looks like the latest deadline of December 13th will not be met either. Chinese bureaucracy is being cited as the reason for the delay.

Back in August Milan President Silvio Berlusconi agreed a deal with the investors, backed by Haixia Capital and entrepreneur Yonghong Li. The deal was completed through investment vehicle Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing (SES). The deal with the Chinese group also requires the investors to spend €350 million over three years on improvements.

The investors have already paid over €100 million in two separate deposits. That leaves €420 million due at the shareholders’ meeting on December 13th.  Berlusconi is now saying that he would be prepared to allow a 6-week extension, for a further non-refundable down-payment of up to €50 million.“I know what Chinese bureaucracy is like and I know that you need a long time to obtain authorisations,” Berlusconi stated.

The deal will most probably go through but the Chinese side will have to come up with a significant non-refundable deposit to buy the time they need to get the money transferred. La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Milan have agreed to delay closing to January 15th with another €50m-€100m deposit from the Chinese buyers.