A source close to the matter has disclosed that the Chinese consortium seeking to buy Serie A side AC Milan has paid a second €100M ($106.3M) deposit to the Italian club's owner, according to Elvira Pollina of REUTERS. Last week, Sino Europe and the holding company of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, which owns AC Milan, "agreed to postpone the closing of the deal to March 3, but the consortium was asked to pay the second deposit" on top of another €100M it had already committed (REUTERS, 12/13). CALCIO MERCATO reported the club’s takeover is "not on the brink of collapse now," but potential new owners are now requested to complete the club’s acquisition by March 3. Sino Europe still needs to pay €320M ($340M) to acquire the 99.93% stake in the club by that date. The consortium reportedly could not complete the club’s takeover by Tuesday because "some bureaucratic issues had prevented them from paying a fee" of €420M ($446M) requested to buy AC Milan. According to Milano Finanza, Sino-Europe could propose that the club split the last payment of €320M into multiple installments but "that may lead to another possible delay of the closing date" (CALCIO MERCATO, 12/13). The AP reported the deal with Sino Europe, "which includes the participation of a Chinese state investment fund," values Milan at €740M ($786.5M). Berlusconi owns 99.93% of the club, which he purchased 30 years ago (AP, 12/13).
