Could Milan abandon takeover?

By Football Italia staff

Friday’s shareholder’s meeting will be decisive for the Milan sale to Chinese investors, but there are reports Silvio Berlusconi could pull the plug.

The situation has been dragging on since pre-season and the closing of the sale to Sino-Europe Sports postponed repeatedly.

It was meant to be finalised tomorrow, but over the last few days reports emerged that SES did not have the necessary €320m ready.

Tomorrow the board will decide whether to allow a further delay to April 7, but only if another €100m deposit is paid by March 10.

However, La Repubblica warn that this latest delay is not to be taken for granted and has riled President Berlusconi.

It’s claimed he set a new deadline for at least €100m to be paid by next week or he will pull the plug on the entire sale.

There is likely to be pressure from several board members tomorrow to hold back on the sale until the financial stability of these investors can be ascertained.

The constant postponements and difficulty raising funds, as well as the apparent presence of Yonghong Li as the sole shareholder of Sino-Europe Sports, raised many concerns among Milan figures and fans.

It’s still possible Berlusconi could sell Sino-Europe Sports a minority of the club shares, equal to the sum they have already paid, and keep control of Milan.

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