After Li Yonghong saw the Sun newspaper's report about Zhang Yida's acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur in Italy, he seemed to grasp a life-saving straw.
Without stopping for a moment, I immediately flew from Milan to London. After going through many intermediaries, I finally met with Zhang Yida at the Cultural Oriental Hotel.
Zhang Yida looked at Li Yonghong, who was also looking at him.
Zhang Yida was curious about what the mysterious Chinese buyer of AC Milan wanted to do with him.
I don't know him personally, but I know a thing or two about this "big man" from some football news in his previous life.
Li Yonghong said in Mandarin with a slight Cantonese accent: "I take the liberty of visiting, please don't blame Mr. Zhang."
"Haha, whatever Mr. Li said, friends of friends are also friends! You don't have to be so polite."
Seeing Zhang Yida being so arrogant, Li Yonghong felt even more hopeful.
"I heard that Mr. Zhang wants to acquire the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur club?"
Zhang Yida nodded slightly, "There is such a thing, and we are currently in contact."
Li Yonghong said "Oh", suppressed the joy in his heart, and said with a smile: "Premier League clubs are not cheap, and only top entrepreneurs like Mr. Zhang can be so calm and relaxed.
Here, I would like to congratulate Mr. Zhang in advance! Joining a Premier League club will greatly enhance your personal and corporate reputation."
"Haha, thank you for that, I haven't even said a word about this yet!"
Zhang Yida looked at Li Yonghong and said with a smile: "It is Mr. Li's entry into AC Milan that shocked the whole of Europe by the courage of the Chinese consortium."
"I am just making a small fuss. Compared with Mr. Zhang, it is nothing to mention."
Zhang Yida waved his hand and said, "Mr. Li, there is no need to be self-effacing. Your generous investment can be regarded as the largest acquisition ever made by a Chinese-funded consortium in the field of European football.
Even when Suning took over Inter Milan, they were all outgunned by you."
Li Yonghong smiled lightly and talked about some things about the AC Milan club.
Zhang Yida did not interrupt him and just listened quietly.
Serie A also had a glorious history and was known as the "Little World Cup" in its early years.
When CCTV started broadcasting Serie A in the 1990s, it was extremely popular.
At that time, Serie A was also at its peak, with so many stars, so he gained many fans in China.
In recent years, this has not been the case. Popularity, commercial value, and competitive levels have all declined seriously.
Not only was it surpassed by the Premier League, it was also overtaken by La Liga and the Bundesliga.
Both domestic Milan teams are no longer good, so only Juventus can still make a presence in the Champions League.
Zhang Yida has also analyzed almost all the five major leagues during this period and has a grasp of all situations.
But until he understood Li Yonghong's intention, he didn't plan to say too much.
Li Yonghong felt that the popularity was almost there, so he smiled and said: "Serie A's popularity and fan base in China are quite good, but it has been a bit sluggish in the past two years.
The same is true for the great team AC Milan, which has encountered a series of difficulties.
However, this also gave me the opportunity to buy the dip.
740 million euros, equivalent to only 630 million pounds. At this price, you can only buy a mid-to-lower team in the Premier League.
But in Serie A, you can buy a wealthy club. As long as you manage it carefully for two or three years and wait until the results get better, you will definitely get a very good return on your investment."
"Haha, Mr. Li's analysis is very accurate. I also believe that AC Milan will be able to shine again in your hands."
Li Yonghong pondered for a moment, sighed and said: "Investment is a good investment, but it also encounters many problems.
Mr. Zhang, do you know about the foreign investment supervision in the sports and entertainment industry at the end of last year?”
"Well, I know."
Zhang Yida took a sip of tea and said calmly. He had almost guessed Li Yonghong's intention.
“Hey, this supervision will come sooner or later. It’s coming at this exact time. It’s really the wrong time!”
Zhang Yida asked very cooperatively: "What's the matter?"
Li Yonghong said: "In August last year, I signed a contract with Fininwest Group, owned by former Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, to acquire AC Milan for a cash consideration of 520 million euros, plus the assumption of 220 million euros of club debt.
99.93% equity.
A deposit of 200 million euros was paid before and after this, but at this time, domestic funds are not allowed to flow out."
Li Yonghong sighed, looked at Zhang Yida, and said with a flattering look on his face: "Then I heard that Mr. Zhang wanted to buy Tottenham Club, so I took the liberty of visiting.
If Mr. Zhang wants to invest in overseas football clubs, AC Milan is actually a good choice."
"Purely financial investment doesn't mean much to me."
Li Yonghong understood what Zhang Yida meant, but he had been busy for so long and could not give up the controlling stake so easily.
"Is this okay? I heard that Yimin Wangjin and Yimin Wealth have overseas businesses.
I will use the entire AC Milan club as collateral to borrow a loan from you, Mr. Zhang."
He was afraid that Zhang Yida would refuse, so he quickly added: "It won't take long, just two or three years. In addition, the interest can also be negotiated."
Zhang Yida said calmly: "We don't have much overseas funds, and we still have to complete the team acquisition plan.
I want to help Mr. Li, but I am unable to do so!"
Li Yonghong took a deep look at Zhang Yida, but he didn't see anything unusual.
This made him feel a little shaken. Is he really going to borrow an overseas loan shark?
When he first heard that Zhang Yida wanted to acquire Tottenham, he was simply ecstatic.
Because Zhang Yida is capable and has the intention to acquire the team, he is the perfect partner.
Even if Zhang Yida is not willing to invest in AC Milan, he can borrow money at the worst, right?
As for Zhang Yida not borrowing it?
When he thought about it, the possibility was unlikely. Who didn't know that this young boss started his career by lending money?
"Mr. Zhang, you don't need to borrow too much, just 300 million euros. The borrowing time can be shorter, 18 months. In terms of interest, we can give you 8%."
Li Yonghong was really desperate, so he decided to offer the lowest price.
"Mr. Li, don't worry, I can't come up with this money myself."
But Zhang Yida's next words rekindled Li Yonghong's hope, "I can ask my friends!"
…
"How dare you lend money to AC Milan with such bad assets? You are so brave!"
Li Hengbo, who came from Singapore, looked through the AC Milan club information and made fun of Zhang Yida.
"It's mortgaged! If something goes wrong, you can take over AC Milan right away.
No matter how miserable the Rossoneri are, 300 million euros must still be worth it!"
Li Hengbo pondered for a moment and asked: "What do we need from Temasek?"
"You will be the GP, I will be the LP, and we will jointly lend you a loan."
Li Hengbo smiled and said: "You can do this yourself! Why are you dragging us along?"
"I don't want to have a good project and get friends to make money together!"
Zhang Yida smiled again and said: "There are asset mortgages and high interest rates. Where can you find this kind of loan business?
If you can't repay the loan, you can still get some bargains by taking over AC Milan."
"I don't believe it. Tell me the truth. What do you think?" Li Hengbo put away his smile and asked seriously.
"Well..."
Zhang Yida recalled what happened after the meeting with Li Yonghong ended two days ago.
The domestic subordinates first collected all the information about Li Yonghong and sent it to him.
There is not much information, it can even be called sparse.
A big man who has the power to spend 740 million euros to acquire AC Milan, but almost no photos of him can be found online.
I only know that he was born in 1969, his original household registration was Huazhou, East Guangdong, and he was naturalized in Hong Kong in 1994.
Then there are several "stain" stories about him.
At the end of 2011, Li Yonghong bought Duolun shares for 360 million yuan and became the actual controller of the company.
At that time, he promised not to transfer shares within 12 months. However, only half a year after the transaction, Li Yonghong signed a share transfer agreement with Xianyan, transferring all 51% of his shares to Xianyan, but did not disclose this information to the outside world.
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Due to violations of stock trading and information disclosure, Li Yonghong was publicly reprimanded by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and imposed a maximum fine of 600,000 yuan by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
In 2013, Li Yonghong was involved in the sensational "Jiangdong Muxue Huge Trust Fraud Case" together with "Jianghu Gangster" Xianyan.
According to China News Network, Li Yonghong’s affiliated companies have also been involved in illegal fund-raising cases such as the “Thailand Kra Canal Scam”.
In 2004, an illegal fund-raising case broke out in Huazhou, eastern Guangdong, which shocked the whole country. One of the Li family members who planned the illegal fund-raising was Li Yonghong, whose native place was also Maoming, eastern Guangdong, and who was also born in 1969.
In September last year, some media revealed that the Chinese consortium that acquired AC Milan had provided false documents from Jiangdong Bank.
There are several similar things, either contract disputes or the person being executed. It can be seen that this is a speculative and gray figure.
The matter of his inability to withdraw funds was also investigated clearly.
Li Yonghong established a China-Europe investment fund last year, with many banks and state-owned assets behind the scenes.
Since November last year, the country has launched a control policy on "Chinese capital going overseas", and outbound transfers exceeding US$5 million must obtain special approval.
Then several state-owned partners withdrew, leaving only Li Yonghong and his family.
At the same time, because Li Yonghong first paid a deposit of 200 million euros to Finenqvist, most of the deposit will not be refunded if the balance cannot be paid on time.
So this speculator is stuck, unable to move forward or retreat.
This is similar to what Zhang Yida knew in his previous life, but these are only the first half of the story.
In the second half, the boss took a desperate risk and borrowed a loan shark from Elliott, the ninth largest hedge fund in the United States.
Elliott, also known as the "vulture" fund, once used national debt defaults to "suck" Argentina dry.
This kind of organization is not a charity. In his previous life, Li Yonghong took over AC Milan only 14 months before he defaulted on his debt and lost AC Milan.
The acquisition price was 740 million euros, plus the subsequent capital injection of 178 million euros, for a total of 918 million euros.
After losing so much at stud, Li Yonghong left AC Milan.
Elliott used a loan of 300 million euros, plus more than one year's interest on the loan, to acquire 99.93% of the AC Milan club's equity.
In Zhang Yida's previous life, he heard that the 14-month interest on this loan was about 80 million euros, and the annual interest rate was about 23%.
He dared to borrow money at such a high interest rate. Zhang Yida guessed that Li Yonghong was worried about the 200 million euro deposit and the sunk cost was too high.
I simply borrowed a loan and took a gamble. If AC Milan's performance improves, not only will it be successfully solved, but it may also make a small profit.
The gambler's mentality can be seen from the fact that he spent 200 million euros to buy star players in the transfer market in one year.
In terms of net transfer investment, it was second only to Paris Saint-Germain, which introduced Neymar that year, and higher than Manchester City and Manchester United, ranking second in European football markets that year.
After spending so much money, all the products purchased were parallel imports, and the team's performance did not improve. At the same time, it violated the "Financial Fair Competition Regulations" and was banned from participating in the European League.
Zhang Yida recalled his memory and said to Li Hengbo: "Look, the rich people in the Middle East have so much fun playing football.
I think Temasek can definitely acquire a football team."