According to Il Corriere della Sera, the TAR of Lazio ruled on Tuesday 28 March that the FIGC must deliver the AC Milan sale dossier to Blue Skye within 30 days, following the financial firm's appeal against the refusal of the Italian Football Federation. The administrative proceedings reveal a legal battle already underway on the civil and criminal fronts by former Elliott partners in Milan.
Gerry Cardinale, the club's owner, vehemently rebuked Blue Skye's legal onslaught, spearheaded by Salvatore Cerchione and Gianluca D'Avanzo, in their "defensive" statements. The arguments of Gerry Cardinale, ACM Bidco (the Dutch company that owns 99.9% of Milan), the club itself, and Giorgio Furlani, the CEO of the club, were presented for the first time.
On the subject of the pledge, Cardinal's lawyers replied: "At the same time as Redblack's release of the pledge on AC Milan's shares, Rossoneri arranged for the continuation of the pledge in favor of Redblack on the entirety of the proceeds from the sale. The following are now subject to the pledge:
A cash amount of approximately 600 million deposited into Rossoneri's bank account (pledge governed by Luxembourg law);
Notes (debt financial instruments, Ed.) for the nominal amount of approximately 560 million issued by the buyer under the vendor loan agreement entered into with Rossoneri (pledge governed by Dutch law)."
The vendor loan is the loan granted by Elliott to RedBird at a rate between 5% and 7%. The exact price of the sale was a total of "1,123,036,449.06 euros, in a combination of cash for 533,036,349.06 euros and loan notes issued by the buyer." Therefore, Cardinale rejects Blue Skye's complaints by stating that "nothing has changed because essentially the collateral has been transferred from AC Milan shares to the proceeds of the sale of such shares."
The second key point is that of the change of ownership. "Contrary to what Blue Skye asserts, the Elliott group has not retained any minority stake in AC Milan," state Cardinale's lawyers. With the notarial deed, "it was confirmed that on August 31, 2022, RedBird, through ACM Bidco, acquired all the shares that Rossoneri held in AC Milan. As a result of this transfer, any participation of the Elliott Group in AC Milan has ceased." Therefore, the lawyers conclude that "it is really not understood what alleged 'mystery' would be connected to the operation in question."
