GdS: Long-term Milan vision behind Cardinale’s €489m+ refinancing – what’s in it for Comvest

RedBird Capital want to close a deal Comvest soon and pay off the vendor loan from Elliott Management, further reports have confirmed.

La Gazzetta dello Sport report this morning that Milan’s corporate history could be enriched by a new chapter, to be added by March. The financial timeline is clear: projects and objectives are planned quarter by quarter.

RedBird plan to refinance its current debt with Elliott Management, and the goal is to settle it by the first quarter of the year, i.e., by March. From New York, RedBird and Elliott’s main operational headquarters, Milan’s interests would extend to a broader area: Central and North America.

Elliott’s successor would be Manulife Comvest, an investment firm based in Toronto, Canada. Cardinale has long been considering how to repay early the €489m debt, plus interest, granted by the Elliott fund and due in 2028.

The advantage of relying on Comvest would be two-fold: extending the repayment period and simultaneously lowering interest rates, a fairly common operation in the financial sector. RedBird, along with Cardinale and his men, would thus remain in charge of the club.

They are still pursuing a long-term project with the Rossoneri, and with a longer time horizon than current conditions allow. Key words: stability and continuity.

The figures

The coexistence between RedBird and Elliott began in the summer of 2022. Cardinale purchased Milan after the club’s last Scudetto victory, giving the club an enterprise value of €1.2bn. Specifically: €600m to the Singer fund, and €550m lent (with the corresponding interest rate) by the seller to Cardinale.

The vendor loan – a formula often used in similar transactions – was then extended in December 2024 until July 2028 with a further investment from RedBird and a debt reduction of €489m. However, due to interest, the amount subsequently increased again.

The future partner (Comvest) see Milan as an attractive opportunity, given their three consecutive financial years in profit, and even more with the stadium deal.

Under Cardinale, Milan have consistently posted positive results: €6m profit in 2022-23, €4m in 2023-24, and €3m in 2024-25. These results should be taken into consideration if a new governance structure is to be established in the future.

Currently, the most prominent positions on the Milan board of directors are those of president Paolo Scaroni and CEO Giorgio Furlani. Under this management, the club learned to operate self-sufficiently: Milan have seen their revenue grow and recorded excellent performances in the commercial department.

Today, sporting results are also fuelling confidence: after a season without the guaranteed earnings of Champions League participation, Allegri’s team is racing to secure another qualification for Europe’s most competitive, and therefore richest, tournament.