Investcorp CEO responds to rumours of continued interest in AC Milan: 'I scratch my head'

In the past few months, there have been several questions about the future of AC Milan’s ownership, given current Chairman Gerry Cardinale has been involved in several trips to the Middle East and America. However, today, a CEO from one of the reportedly interested firms has spoken on the rumours of their interest. 

Reports in recent months have suggested that Cardinale has travelled to different areas of the world to seek new business partners to invest in Milan in some way, aiming to re-pay the Elliott Group vendor loan before its due date.

However, several reports have also emerged that there has been interest in a majority stake in the club instead of taking a minority role within the club, as intended. Cardinale has denied that he is looking to sell the club, though, with him saying he wants to “stay forever”.

Today, Hazem Ben-Gacem, the CEO of Investcorp, has clarified what the company are looking to do in the world of football at the Merger & Acquisition Summit organised by Il Sole 24 Ore. His words have been relayed by MilanNews.

No investment in AC Milan and Inter Milan…
“They are great clubs and institutions, especially for their fans. Every now and then I scratch my head when I read the Italian press saying that Investcorp does this or that and I say to myself ‘Really? I didn’t remember that’. No, we do not want to and have not looked in the last two years to buy or invest in Inter or Milan. They have their shareholders, Steven Zhang and RedBird, who are very good shareholders. It’s not an investment we are looking at.

“Football, like other sectors in Italy, is particularly interesting because it is driven by passion. Investcorp’s first investment was in 1984 in Riva and today it is one of the biggest international brands. Italian football in the next 10 years can be one of the world’s leading leagues and if we could have a part of it that would be great.”