AC Milan sale: leader of Chinese consortium revealed
AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi is negotiating the sale of a majority share in the club. Trouble is, the identity of the Chinese consortium willing to complete the club’s takeover has not been officially disclosed yet.
Baidu’s founder Robin Li is among those Chinese entrepreneurs who have been linked with being part of the group of investors, but Bloomberg reports that GSR Ventures’ founder Sonny Wu is the leader of the Chinese consortium which are close to buy a majority share in the club.
The Chinese business man reportedly evaluates the club € 750 million, debts included. Wu founded GSR Ventures in 2004, GSR is a venture capital fund that invests primarily in early and growth stage technology companies with substantial operations in China.
Here’s what Bloomberg report about Mr. Wu.
Wu, a former Nortel Networks Corp. executive who grew up in southern China’s Guangdong province, co-founded early-stage investment firm GSR Ventures in 2004. He partnered with Hong Kong property tycoon Cheng Kin-ming in a $2.8 billion deal last year for Philips’s Lumileds lighting components unit, which fell apart after U.S. government opposition.
Steven Zheng is also believed to be part of the consortium. According to Bloomberg, Zheng is a Chinese businessman with solar power interests, is also part of the buyer group, the people said. The deal will involve new sponsorship agreements with the seven-time European champion, according to one of the people. Berlusconi, the former Italian premier, said this month he had reached a deal in principle with the Chinese consortium without identifying its makeup.
Are they going to make AC Milan great again?
Lorenzo Bettoni @lorebetto
Pic credit: Forbes.com
