Boston Red Sox Partner's Group in Exclusive Talks to Buy Soccer's AS Roma
A group of U.S. investors led by Thomas DiBenedetto, part owner of the Boston Red Sox, will hold exclusive talks to buy three-time Italian soccer champion AS Roma with the club’s owners, UniCredit SpA and the Sensi family.
Julian Movsesian, a member of the bidding group, said in a telephone interview that the U.S. investors hope to conclude the deal in about two weeks. He said UniCredit was likely to keep a minority stake in the club, which was founded in 1927 and last won the Serie A title in 2001.
“We could be the proud owners in two weeks” after legalities are finalized, Movsesian, president of Succession Capital Alliance, said yesterday from Newport Beach, California. “We are going to work on the details. I’m pretty excited.”
AS Roma shares rose 2.4 percent today to 1.24 euros in Milan trading, up from 1.21 euros yesterday, giving the company a market value of about 164 million euros.
DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC, the company led by DiBenedetto, a partner in the holding company that owns the Red Sox and English soccer club Liverpool, had “the most competitive offer” of the five purchase bids AS Roma received, according to Compagnia Italpetroli SpA, the Sensi family’s holding.
The U.S. investors will “provide further information,” a process that will take “a few days” and lead to an “exclusive period” for talks, Italpetroli said in a statement distributed by the Italian exchange yesterday.
Doubling Revenue
The group is proposing to pay as much as 130 million euros ($177.3 million) for AS Roma and wants a 50 million-euro credit line for the club from Milan-based UniCredit after the purchase, Italian daily Il Messaggero reported Jan. 28. The U.S. investors aim to more than double Roma’s revenue within five years to 250 million euros and to build a new stadium within eight years, la Repubblica said today.
All the proceeds of the sale will be used to pay back 277 million euros of debt owed to UniCredit. Italy’s biggest bank became co-owner of the team after a debt-for-equity swap last year with the Sensi family. UniCredit owns 49 percent and Italpetroli 51 percent of Newco Roma, the holding company that holds 67 percent of As Roma.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at aduff4@bloomberg.net; Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at at elser@bloomberg.net; Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net.
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