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.
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