Yahoo Sports Milan announce refinancing deal with RedBird and Elliott
Milan announced that RedBird completed a refinancing loan early with Elliott, including an additional €170 million investment, with the under-fire owner insisting he is ‘committed for the long-term.’
The statement comes just days after protests by supporters both inside San Siro and most notably camped outside the event where the club was celebrating the 125th anniversary of its foundation.
Their calls for RedBird and patron Gerry Cardinale to sell up were rejected outright, but the owners are trying to boost the club coffers instead.
“AC Milan today informed that a refinancing of the vendor loan held by entities advised by Elliott Advisors UK Limited (“Elliott”) has been completed,” read a statement.
“The refinancing with Elliott, in its position solely as lender, includes an additional investment of €170 million by AC Milan’s owner, RedBird Capital (“RedBird”), reducing the principal amount of the loan to €489 million, now with a maturity of July 2028.”
Milan’s path to RedBird
Elliott effectively repossessed Milan when previous owner Yonghong Li failed to keep up repayments on a loan he had used to buy the club from Silvio Berlusconi.
When Elliott sold the controlling shares of the club to RedBird in August 2022, it included a loan from Elliott and retained places on the board.
“Over the course of the past few years, AC Milan’s financial positioning has steadily grown and strengthened under the guidance of RedBird, a committed owner for the long-term,” added current chairman Paolo Scaroni.
“Significant work has been done to ensure the stability of our iconic club, position it for sustainable operational success and uphold the legacy, tradition and values of the Rossoneri.”
The official statement mentions that it is developing a new 70,000 seat stadium “that will be one of the most advanced modern sports and entertainment complexes in the world.”
However, it does not specify if this is meant to be the shared arena with Inter in the San Siro district or the separate stadium that AC Milan are still working on in the San Donato area outside the city limits of Milan.
