Tether wants to buy Juventus Turin: Agnelli family rejects offer
The CEO of Tether is Italian and a fan of Juventus Turin: Now his company has submitted a takeover offer for the world-renowned club.
(Image: W. Admaja/Shutterstock.com)
The Dutch investment company Exor, belonging to the Italian entrepreneurial Agnelli family, has rejected a takeover bid for the world-renowned football club Juventus Turin by the issuer of the cryptocurrency Tether. This is evident from a statement from Exor released over the weekend, which makes it clear that the shares in “Juve” would not be sold to Tether or any other third party. The Agnellis are proud of their stake, which they have held for over 100 years. Exor holds almost two-thirds of the football club's shares, while Tether aims to acquire these as well as the remaining shares and has announced its intention to invest one billion euros in the club.
Difficult phase for Juventus
Tether is responsible for the stablecoin of the same name, making it the world's third-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ether. The interest in acquiring Juventus Turin “stems from deep admiration and respect,” according to the statement on the purchase offer, which states that the club stands for “Italian excellence with a truly global presence.” Tether's CEO, the Italian Paolo Ardoino, explains that Juventus has always been a part of his life: “I grew up with the team.” Tether is in a strong financial position and wants to contribute positively to the future of the football club.
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With the takeover offer, new money is pitted against old capital, summarizes the financial news agency Bloomberg. The offer values Juventus at a total of 1.1 billion euros, but the club represents only a small part of Exor's portfolio. This includes stakes in Ferrari, Stellantis, Iveco, and Christian Louboutin, among others. With 36 titles, Juventus Turin is the Italian record champion and one of the most successful football clubs in the world. However, due to penalties and point deductions for accounting fraud, things have not been going so well recently; the nine consecutive league titles until 2020 were followed only by two Coppa Italia titles. Juventus is currently in 5th place in Serie A.
(mho)
