Serie A side AC Milan is "heading for a listing in Hong Kong" after financing from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management "revived a Chinese deal to buy the Italian football club from Silvio Berlusconi," according to Rachel Sanderson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Elliott "agreed to provide part of the financing for little-known Chinese investor Yonghong Li to buy AC Milan" for €740M ($800M), people directly informed of the deal said. The transaction values AC Milan at "about four times revenues, putting it on a par with Chinese Suning Holdings' purchase of a majority stake in Inter Milan last year." The transaction, led by Li's Sino-Europe Sports, includes €250M ($270.3M) of down payments to Berlusconi's family holding company, Fininvest, and €200M ($216.2M) of debt. It is "expected to close in mid-April." Li, who is representing a consortium of unspecified Asian investors, is "looking at listing the club on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the next 18 months to provide an exit for Elliott" (FT, 3/28). In N.Y., Manuela Mesco reported according to sources, Elliott said that "it has found other investors to contribute to its investment," but it has not disclosed their names. In November, China put restrictions on yuan spending outside the country. Moreover, the Chinese government was "unlikely to look favorably on deals in the sports or entertainment sector." As a result, Li -- a Hong Kong resident -- "looked for foreign financial backers to raise the funds needed to buy AC Milan" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/28). The WSJ's Nathaniel Taplin reported "Chinese hunger for foreign assets remains intense." If capital controls remain in place, which "seems likely as long as the U.S. Federal Reserve is raising rates," more deals like the AC Milan one "seem all but certain." Chinese banks, "fearing blowback from regulators at home, may be hesitant to get involved." That creates a "clear opening for deep-pocketed Western institutions like Elliott, which can almost name their terms on a deal" (WSJ, 3/28).
