Mario Gabelli Bids for Berlusconi Family’s Monza Soccer Team

Posted by Admin October 8, 2024 Bussiness

(Bloomberg) — Money manager Mario Gabelli made an offer for the last Italian football club still owned the Berlusconi family.

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Gabelli, who runs GAMCO Investors Inc., bid for AC Monza, valuing the team as much as €60 million ($66 million), according to people familiar with the matter. The offer expires early next week, the people said.

The Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest said earlier on Tuesday that it’s in talks with several potential partners for AC Monza. Still, the firm added that “none of them are at an advanced stage.”

Alec Boccanfuso, an analyst at Gabelli, said the firm is always interested in sports and live entertainment businesses, including Italian soccer, without specifically confirming the Monza bid.

Should Gabelli offer be successful, would be the latest US investor buying one of Italy’s top Serie A league team. Among others, Dan Friedkin owns AS Roma while RedBird Capital Partners’ Gerry Cardinale bought AC Milan in 2022.

The late Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi bought the historic club AC Milan in 1986 and held it for about 30 years, when he sold it to a Chinese investors, in a transaction backed by Paul Singer’s hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.

Associazione Calcio Monza was founded in 1912 and is based near Milan and Berlusconi’s former home town. The four-time Italian prime minister purchased the club in 2018 and lead the squad to the top league of Italian soccer, Serie A. Monza is also home of Italy’s Formula One race.

Palella Holdings LLC and Deloitte Legal Italia are advising Gabelli on the deal.

(Updates with advisers in last paragraph.)