Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol said that a deal that could see him purchase 48% of AC Milan would be "completed within 'two months' but hit out at a series of 'fabrications and suppositions' in the Italian media," according to the AFP. Bee "signed an eight-week period of exclusivity to negotiate the sale of Milan" with club Owner & President Silvio Berlusconi last week. A statement said that under any deal, Berlusconi would retain 52% of the club while Bee, the exec director of a southeast Asian private equity group, would "hold 48 per cent" after paying an estimated €480M ($541.3M) for his stake. Reports have since "made several claims concerning Bee's intentions at the club." Some alleged Bee was "against the club hiring Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, a former Inter Milan and Lazio player, as a replacement for current handler Filippo Inzaghi." Bee also "hit out at Victor Pablo Dana, who La Gazzetta dello Sport said played a role 'perfectioning Bee's project with him'" (AFP, 6/8). FOOTBALL ITALIA reported the Thai magnate said in a statement, "I continue to read in some Italian media reconstructions and background information that do not correspond to reality. ... I can deny that I expressed a view on the transfer market or the coaching staff, which are down to President Berlusconi and his collaborators. I also wish to point out that Mr. Pablo Dana, interviewed today in La Repubblica and La Gazzetta dello Sport, does not represent me and does not have permission to speak for me" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 6/7).
