Confirmation Li Yonghong had "completed his protracted takeover" of AC Milan was greeted with skepticism by "some in the Italian press," according to Ed Aarons of the London GUARDIAN. Far from "being the beginning of a shiny new era" that had been painted by former Owner Silvio Berlusconi after more than three decades at the helm, Alberto Costa of the Corriere della Sera admitted on Italian TV that he had "major doubts over the new owner." Costa: "I'm not sure this new Milan have the resources to get back to winning. There are debts to be covered and Milan will not make enough to cover them." The "unusual structure of the deal" -- which had Li’s Hong Kong-based Sino-Europe Sports Investment pay €100M as a deposit last June before three further payments totaling €150M -- "has raised the most eyebrows." Having "at first claimed the takeover was backed by the Chinese government," Li revealed "a few days before" he was due to pay the remaining balance on a deal worth a total of €740M ($825M), including debts, that it would "now be completed using a different holding company" based in Luxembourg called Rossoneri Sport Investment. Just before he completed the takeover, it also emerged Li had taken out a loan of €300M ($334M) from U.S. private equity fund Elliott Management. Alain Wang of Chinese newspaper Titan Sports said, "The Chinese government has recently placed restrictions on outbound foreign investment because they might suspect it is an excuse to move capital overseas. That is why Li Yonghong had to find alternative sources of funding at the last minute." Details about the source of Li's fortune "have been particularly difficult to verify." He is believed to own a 28% share in Renshuo's New China Building project in Guangzhou -- a 48-story development of offices and shops that is estimated to be worth around €1B ($1.1B) -- and has "also owned shares in packaging companies and phosphate mines" (GUARDIAN, 5/17).
