Chinese poised to control two of Italy's most celebrated soccer clubs

When Milan's two Serie A soccer teams meet in their crosstown Derby della Madonnina this fall, the match will feature two other opposing sides - Chinese owners.

This week came a report that former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns the AC Milan soccer club, was selling the team to a Chinese group, whose principals haven't been named.

Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and Robin Li, head of Chinese search engine Baidu Inc, however, are rumored to be involved in the deal.

Earlier this year, Suning Commerce Group, a major appliances-retail chain based in Shanghai, bought 70 percent of AC Milan's cross-city rival Inter Milan. The two clubs play in the same stadium, the San Siro.

The consortium's offer for 80 percent of AC Milan values the club at 700-750 million euros ($777 million to $832 million), including debt, sources have said.

"A deal in principle has been reached and the two parties will be signing the official preliminary agreement between July 12 to 13, during which the Chinese investor group will pay a deposit of about 100 million euros as a guarantee," a person familiar with the negotiations on the Italian side told China Daily Europe.

The remaining 20 percent will be acquired over the next two seasons from Berlusconi's Fininvest, the club's holding company. Fininvest entered into discussions with the consortium in May.

The source also said the Chinese investors intend to eventually list AC Milan in China.

"I gave up (AC) Milan to a group that can bring them back to prominence in Italy, in Europe and in the world," Berlusconi, 79, said on Tuesday after being released from a hospital where he had undergone heart surgery. Berlusconi, who has controlled the team since 1986, will remain honorary club president.

"I demanded that they provide at least 400 million ($444 million) to be spent on the (player transfer) market over the next two years. They are an important group, with an involvement of the (Chinese) state.

"Milan has now embarked on this path towards China," Berlusconi said in a video on the La Gazzetta dello Sport website. "It's an important decision to give AC Milan to someone able to make it be a protagonist in Italy, Europe and globally."

AC Milan, or the rossoneri as the team is known in Italy, is a storied franchise, having won the Champions League (previously the European Cup), the top prize in European pro soccer, seven times. Lately, the team founded in 1899 has fallen on tough times on the field and off.

The club lost 93.5 million euros ($104 million) last year and needs the capital to compete with top European clubs, many of which are now bankrolled by Middle Eastern and Asian owners.

AC Milan's new owners will be expected to challenge Juventus of Turin - which has won five consecutive Serie A titles - along with Inter Milan. Juventus has signed lucrative deals with EA Sports and IMG, the latter to help promote it in Asia. "Juve" also has renewed its sponsorship with Samsung.

"Chinese are especially great admirers of Italian clubs," Qiang Bai, CEO of the Sports International Beijing agency, told Time.com. "Many middle-aged Chinese grew up watching Italian clubs on TV."

"A Chinese takeover at the club would be headline news across the world, and many observers would be interested to see whether Chinese investors could resurrect these clubs and make them great again," Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports enterprise at Salford Business School in Manchester, England, told China Daily Europe.

"If the deal does happen, it would be a real signal of intent on the part of China that would make the world take China's football ambitions more seriously."

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com