NEW YORK and MILAN, Italy, Aug. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RedBird Capital Partners (“RedBird”) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Associazione Calcio Milan (“AC Milan”, “Milan” or the “club”) for €1.2 billion.
For one hundred and twenty three years AC Milan has been synonymous with championship level football. Since its founding in 1899, AC Milan has won 19 Serie A Championships, 7 Champions Leagues/European Cups, 7 Supercoppa Italianas, 5 Coppa Italias, 5 European Super Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups, 2 European Cup Winners' Cups, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.
As the new owner of AC Milan, RedBird will continue to invest in all the key areas that will advance the Club’s sporting and commercial interests, building on last season’s achievements that culminated in the club’s Serie A championship. RedBird’s experience in operating and building global sports businesses will ensure that the next chapter in AC Milan’s storied history will build on its current momentum.
Priority areas of focus include supporting the club’s sporting and business leadership to ensure that the team is consistently competitive at the highest levels of football; ensuring that it has the infrastructure and facilities befitting one of the world’s most prominent sporting organisations; and strengthening the Club’s women’s and youth teams, as well as its charitable arm, Fondazione Milan.
Gerry Cardinale, RedBird Founder and Managing Partner, said: “Our vision for Milan is clear: we will support our talented players, coaches and staff to deliver success on the pitch and allow our fans to share in the extraordinary experiences of this historic club. We will look to leverage our global sports and media network, our analytics expertise, our track record in sports stadium developments and hospitality to deliver one goal – maintaining Milan’s place at the summit of European and world football.”
The deal will also see Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE), owner of the New York Yankees, one of the world’s most valuable sports franchises, enter into a strategic partnership with the club with a minority equity stake in AC Milan. RedBird has a longstanding relationship with the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family, with whom it is a co-owner of the Yankees Entertainment Sports (YES) Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the United States.
On the partnership with YGE, Mr. Cardinale said: “We have a multi-decade relationship with the New York Yankees and the Steinbrenner family that has resulted in the creation of some of the most successful businesses in sports, entertainment and hospitality. We are very pleased to continue our partnership with them and will look to explore opportunities together to broaden our fan reach and expand commercial opportunities that are only available to franchises that operate at the highest levels of sports globally.”
The completion of the purchase of Milan takes RedBird’s assets under management to approximately $7.5 billion and adds AC Milan to RedBird’s portfolio of global sports and entertainment investments that include Fenway Sports Group (Liverpool FC, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins), Toulouse FC, the Rajasthan Royals, the YES Network, the SpringHill Company, Skydance Media, the XFL, OneTeam Partners and Dream Sports.
About RedBird Capital
RedBird Capital Partners is a private investment firm focused on building high-growth companies in partnership with entrepreneurs in sports, media, experiential consumer and financial services. Founded by former Goldman Sachs Partner Gerry Cardinale in 2014, RedBird has over $7.5 billion of assets under management with a highly curated group of blue-chip global institutional and family office investors. RedBird’s network of entrepreneurs is central to its investment sourcing and company-building strategy that helps founders achieve their business objectives and long-term vision. Since inception, RedBird has invested in over 30 platform companies and 80 add on acquisitions with total enterprise value exceeding $30 billion. For more information, please go to www.redbirdcap.com.
Media Contacts:
RedBird Capital (Italy)
Marcella Verini
Verini & Associati
+39 335 5388161 or +39 02 45395500
mverini@verinieassociati.com
RedBird Capital (Europe excl. Italy)
Paddy Harverson
Milltown Partners
+44 (0) 7793 850094
pharverson@milltownpartners.com
RedBird Capital (North America)
Dan Gagnier
Gagnier Communications
+1 646 569-5897
RedBird@gagnierfc.com
Melissa Zukerman
Principal Communications Group
+1 323 658 1555
Melissa@pcommgroup.com
