While Investcorp has completed the due diligence and is putting the finishing touches on its bid, another fund has shown interest in taking over Milan, United States-based RedBird Capital. Its offer is similar to the Bahrain consortium, around €1B, Sky News informs.
According to the Financial Times, the period to negotiate exclusively has lapsed. Therefore, Elliott can listen to other proposals. Investcorp remains in the lead, but they are now facing some competition. RedBird Capital would add Milan to its vast array of assets within the sports realm. It holds a 10 percent share of the Fenway Sports Group, which controls Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox.
Moreover, it owns French outfit Toulouse, Indian Dream Sports, which organizes fantasy cricket competitions, YES Network, and the XFL. It participated in ticketing platform SeatGeek going public through the merger with their SPAC RedBall Acquisition Corp last year. It was founded by former Goldman Sachs exec Gerry Cardinale and manages assets for €6B, Calcio e Finanza informs.
On the other hand, RedBird Capital might have come into the picture too late to supplant Investcorp and subvert their plants to purchase Milan. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Elliott and the Middle Eastern conglomerate are on the home stretch of a €1.18B agreement. The Mohammed Al Ardhi-led fund would directly put on the table €800M in equity. The rest would come from a loan, equally split between some of their clients in the Persian Gulf and Ares Capital, which would be then bought out in the next few years.