Chinese investor near closing $ 823m deal for AC Milan soccer team

The managing director of private equity firm GSR Ventures Sonny Wu has signed a binding agreement with Silvio Berlusconi, the president of AC Milan, through a special purpose vehicle to take over the Italian soccer team, domestic news portal caixin. com reported on Saturday.

The Chinese businessman is valuing the club at about 750 million euros ($ 823 million) including 200 million euros in debt, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing an unidentified source.

Another Chinese businessman Steven Zheng and a European boutique investment bank specializing in sports business also helped in the deal, caixin. com said.

The report cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Wu will pay a deposit on the deal in the next step.

It is highly likely that Wu will seek domestic partners after acquiring AC Milan because running a club involves many ongoing expenses, said the report.

According to the source, Wu was near closing the deal after various consortiums that initially showed an interest in the club pulled out.

Those would- be investors included domestic institutions that realized AC Milan wouldn’t be allowed to list in China, as the company’s debt has been rising in recent years, said the report.

AC Milan reported a loss of 93.50 million euros in fiscal 2015, according to the company’s financial statement. The company’s losses totaled 270 million euros over the past five fiscal years, domestic news portal ifeng. com reported in April.

GSR Ventures was established in 2004 to invest in domestic high- tech start- ups that focus on the global market. caixin. com said.

The company manages $ 1 billion, according to the company.