The family of the late Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to sell soccer club AC Monza to U.S.-based investment firm Beckett Layne Ventures (BLV).
A statement on Tuesday confirmed 80 per cent of the club’s shares will be transferred to BLV this summer, with the remaining 20 per cent to be processed by June 2026.
The sale of Monza marks the withdrawal from soccer of the family of Berlusconi, the four-time Italian prime minister and media tycoon who previously spent three decades as the president of AC Milan.
The move also marks the first time BLV, which has invested over $10billion to date in the media and entertainment sectors, have invested in soccer.
Headquartered in the U.S., BLV was founded and is managed by Brandon Berger and Lauren Crampsie, both of whom were involved in restructuring Chelsea’s commercial department with their background in media and marketing.
BLV believe Monza, the home of Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix, is located in a strategically important region of Italy, less than 30km north of Milan.
In September 2018, the Fininvest holding company — headed by former Milan club president Berlusconi — bought Monza, with Berlusconi bringing Monza-born Adriano Galliani, former CEO of Milan, also became part of the board of directors.
The late Silvio Berlusconi worked alongside Adriano Galliani at Milan and then Monza (Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)
Berlusconi and Galliani had overseen the most successful leadership in Milan’s history, winning 29 trophies with the club between 1986 and 2016, including eight Serie A titles and five Champions League trophies.
Their stewardship oversaw Monza’s first ever promotion to Serie A, the top division of Italian football, in 2022 — starting a run of three successive seasons in the top flight, which ended last season.
Monza will compete in next season’s Serie B after finishing bottom of Serie A last season, with just three victories in 38 league matches.
They are the latest Italian club to move to U.S. ownership, with Milan, Inter, Roma, Fiorentina, Atalanta, Parma and Hellas Verona among those with American majority owners.
Monza sale marks end of Berlusconi era
After selling AC Milan in 2017, Silvio Berlusconi downsized and bought nearby Monza, the hometown club of his right-hand man Adriano Galliani.
It was a retirement project for both and they were able to take Monza from Italy’s third tier all the way up to the top flight.
Berlusconi’s death in June 2023 spelled time, however, for this particular indulgence. The rest of the family is passionate about football but never to the same extent as Berlusconi and Galliani.
Monza have been up for sale ever since, and the takeover by Beckett Layne Ventures marks the end of an era. Few people have changed football like Berlusconi.
(Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
