A.C. Milan
In August 2016,
Fininvest, the parent company of Italian football club
A.C. Milan, signed a preliminary agreement with the Chinese investment management company
Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Co., Ltd. () to sell the club for €740 million (including €220 million indebtedness of the company), valued on 30 June 2016 (A further €90 million cost of the club from 1 July to the closing date According to the Chinese Government's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Sino-Europe Sports, registered in
Changxing County, was solely owned by mainland Chinese citizen Chen Huashan () with a
share capital of just . However, it was reported that Li Yonghong and a
private equity fund () of
Haixia Capital Management were the true owners of Sino-Europe Sports. However, Sino-Europe Sports failed to pay the residual sum in December, and the deal was delayed to March 2017. Sino-Europe Sports paid a second deposit of €100 million (making the total deposit €200 million) to Fininvest via Hong Kong subsidiaries of Sino-Europe Sports:
Rossoneri Sport Investment Co., Ltd. and Rossoneri Champion Co., Ltd.. However, according to the filing in the Hong Kong Companies Registry, Rossoneri Sport Investment borrowed HK$830 million (around €100 million according to the exchange rate at that time) from a
BVI-incorporated company, Willy Shine International Holdings Limited () on 13 December 2016. The loan was refurbished on 23 January 2017. although Chen remained as the sole director of Rossoneri Sport Investment and the 100% owner of the entire share capital of Rossoneri Champion. The two BVI companies had raised concerns in Italy as to who the actual investors were. Sino-Europe Sports failed to pay the residual sum again in March 2017. In order to finalise the deal, the company received a loan from
Elliott Management Corporation, an investment firm which has widely been described as a
vulture fund. According to
Calcio e Finanza, Elliott used two associate companies, King George Investments and Genio Investments, to finance the parent company of Milan that was owned by Li indirectly. It was further reported that another private equity fund, Blue Skye, also financed the deal. On 13 April 2017, the sale was officially finalised, and
Rossoneri Sport Investment Luxembourg Sàrl became the new direct parent company of the club. Rossoneri Luxembourg, as of January 2017, was owned by the Hong Kong company Rossoneri Sport Investment. On 14 April, Li Yonghong was confirmed as the new chairman of the club, and
Marco Fassone was confirmed as CEO (). It was reported that the final price of the club was €606 million (the price including a refurbishment of a €90m credit line of Fininvest to Milan), excluding the refurbishment of the club debt. The club had planned to issue 2 tranches of
corporate bonds for a total of €128m, as well as a recapitalization of a maximum of €60m, in order to fund the club in 2017 after the takeover. On 22 October 2017, it was revealed by
David Webb that
Teamway International Group (known as Jin Bao Bao at that time), a small-sized Hong Kong-listed company, had lent US$8.3 million (approx. HK$65 million by
the narrow band floating exchange rate) to Hong Kong-based Rossoneri Sport Investment. According to the press release by Teamway on 29 August 2017, it was also revealed that Rossoneri Advance[d] was owned by Li Yonghong himself; Li
charged the entire issued shares of Rossoneri Advance[d] to Teamway International Group as collateral. matching the concern of his financial condition, willingness and ability to recapitalize Milan with such a high interest rate on a small amount of loan. Last but not least, Li failed to refurbish the loan in February 2018, but was allowed to extend for a month, with an interest rate of 24% p.a. On 16 November 2017,
The New York Times reported that Li alleged that he had a mining empire to Italian football officials, which "was hardly known even in mining circles [of China]." The mining empire, on paper, was owned by other people. It was formally rejected in December by UEFA, citing "uncertainties in relation to the refinancing of the loans to be paid back in October 2018 and the financial guarantees provided by the main shareholder.";
Marca speculated that the club may face disciplinary action regarding the club's summer spending. Eventually Milan was banned by UEFA from European competition for the 2018–19 season, citing "the break-even requirement". It was reported that Milan failed to meet the aggregate break-even requirement for the period from 2014 to 2017. In July 2018,
Elliott Management acquired full ownership of Milan. On 12 July, Elliott officially struck-off Li's holding company Rossoneri Champion Inv. Lux. as a shareholder of Milan's direct parent company Rossoneri Sport Inv. Lux. According to the press release of
Teamway International Group, Li also defaulted on the loan from Teamway International Group. ==Other Business Activities==