Berlusconi grants 'extra time' to Chinese investors

MILAN - AC Milan owner and president Silvio Berlusconi has backed giving the Chinese Sino-Europe Sports consortium "extra time" to complete the purchase of the Serie A giant following the latest delay in the takeover.

"They asked for some extra time and I don't see what there is to worry about," Berlusconi said in an interview with Il Tempo newspaper on the weekend.

A bid by SES, which has made a down payment of 200 million euros on a deal that values the Serie A giants at 740 million euros ($825.4 million), appeared to hit the rocks on Friday after the consortium failed to complete the takeover by the agreed March 3 deadline.

SES later claimed "circumstances beyond its control" had led to the delay on a deal that will see the seven-time European champion follow city rival Inter Milan into Chinese ownership.

Despite reports suggesting an irate Berlusconi could pull out, the former Italian prime minister said: "The investors have made considerable payments as a demonstration of their intentions. This is very important, not just for Fininvest, but also the fans of AC Milan."

Fininvest is Berlusconi's holding company, and early on Friday morning it released a statement clearly calling for SES to get its house in order as quickly as possible.

Confirming the sale had been postponed, Fininvest said in a statement it "welcomes the opportunity to enter into an agreement with Sino-Sports Europe that will lead to the sale of Milan as soon as possible".

It was read by club CEO Adriano Galliani to a crowd of increasingly angry shareholders on Friday morning.

A hastily-released statement by SES on Friday evening said: "While expressing its disappointment at the delay in completing the deal, due to circumstances outwith its control, SES confirms it is strongly committed to continue working with Fininvest to complete the deal as soon as possible, and that a detailed investment plan is ready."

Reports claim the deal is now scheduled to go through in early April.

Agence France-Presse