AC Milan owner rejects $1.1 billion bid for majority stake in club

This morning, Thai businessman Bee Taechaunbol of Country Group Development and rights owner of Global Legends Series (GLS) Bangkok confirmed that he had made an offer of one billion euros ($1.1 billion or £741 million) to buy a majority holding in Italian giants AC Milan.

Bee confirmed his move in Bangkok this morning saying he wanted to buy more than a 50% stake in the Serie A side, but not whole ownership of club.

Shortly after that news became public, AC Milan owner and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said – through his company – that he was not interested in selling a majority stake in the club.

Milan have not won a Serie A title since 2011, have gone through four different coach last five seasons and failed to achieve European qualification last year. They are currently in eleventh place in Italy following a disappointing 1-1 draw with Empoli on Sunday – a match which the Rossoneri were reduced to nine men and were jeered off the pitch by fans at the San Siro.

Despite their recent on-field shortcomings, Milan were ranked the 12th richest club in world soccer by Deloitte last month with revenue of £208.8m for the 2013-14.

Also in December, the club announced that its sponsorship deal with the Dubai-based Emirates Airlines had been extended for another five years. Speculation is the deal could be worth as much as 100 million euros (£80 million).

While Berlusconi has rejected the idea of selling a majority stake in Milan, it is understood that the club are willing to negotiate a deal which would allow for a percentage of shares to be sold to outside investors.