AC Milan half-year financial statement 2016-17 – There is something that seems to be clear, financially speaking AC Milan is not performing well at all. After having reported a loss of €89 million in the 2015 financial statement the Red-and Black of Milan closed 2016 in the red for around €75 million. This is what Enrico Currò and Luca Pagni, two journalists of the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, reported explaining that the postponed closing for the acquisition of the club by Sino-Europe Sports Investment (SES) is not going to be positive for Silvio Berlusconi and Fininvest.
Although the financial situation of AC Milan is a relevant topic, the most important aspect to focus on is the actual mystery of the acquisition of the club. Recently, rumors are reporting the difficulties that SES is experiencing to pay the €320 million required within March 3rd, 2017 to close the deal. Even Carlo Festa, a journalist of the financial Italian newspaper Il Sole24 Ore, highlighted that Sino-Europe Sports Investment is having trouble in finding around €100 million and the further €70 mln that Fininvest invested in this period of transition. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, recently Li Yonghong told Fininvest that two major investors decided to withdraw their commitment to AC Milan’s acquisition. At this stage, by analyzing these rumors and the relative numerical factors, around €100 million to close the deal are missing.
Calcio e Finanza believes that the actual scenario could be the following. Fininvest could decide to wait for another month to seal the AC Milan closing, however, another €100 million down-payment would be required. In this case, Silvio Berlusconi would have in his hands an overall amount of €300 mln.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, SES advanced a different proposal to AC Milan’s ownership. The Chinese group of investors would like to pay Fininvest only the amount collected so far completing the payment at the end of March. However, their proposal was firmly refused.
The third and most creative but feasible option would allow Silvio Berlusconi to cash in the €200 million that Sino-Europe Sports Investment already paid closing the business relationship with the Chinese investors and keeping the ownership of AC Milan. Although this is a real and legal possibility that Fininvest and Berlusconi can seriously evaluate, the most probable scenario is a postponement of the closing that will be conceded to SES.
