Fininvest didn’t receive the deposit that Sino-Europe Sports Investments was supposed to pay by today. This was expected and it is unlikely that the € 100 million deposit will be paid tomorrow as well. This was a required step for SES to postpone the AC Milan closing to April 7th, 2017. The parties involved are still waiting for further news.
A formal ultimatum has not been stated but if Li Yonghong’s company will not be able to complete this payment by the end of the week the negotiation for the AC Milan acquisition could be interrupted. However, other twists are not excluded in a negotiation that seems to be open to any conclusion.
Meanwhile, the authorities of Beijing have not released encouraging statements for Sino-Europe Sports, which has to deal with the rigid regulations about the leakage of funds imposed by the Chinese government.
Pan Gongsheng, the Chinese state agency chief for foreign trade as well as deputy governor of the central bank, explained that “mergers and acquisitions abroad can sometimes resemble a rose with thorns so we have to be careful and perform the necessary checks.” Talking about the acquisition of foreign clubs by Chinese companies, he said, “It would be a good thing if these mergers and acquisitions would give impetus to the value of football in China. But, is this the case? Many Chinese companies – he added – already have a high level of debt and borrow large sums for other cross-border purchases. Others claim to invest but in reality, they are just transferring their activities abroad.“
