LeBron James of the NBA is one of the owners of the Los Angeles-based fun that owns the Yankees.
Their investing in AC Milan comes after it was announced that the fund is investing in the club under RedBird Capital Partners and RedBird is about to close a deal that will give them controlling interest in Milan for $1.2 Million.
Gerry Cardinale of RedBird announced that preliminary agreements have been made in June. Closing is set to take place in September.
The deal will end up with the Yankees Global Enterprises holding about 10% ownership.
“We’re very confident that the Yankee brand is the most famous sports brand in the world, and we think we can help boost the revenue of AC Milan by being associated with it,” said Randy Levine, Yankees president.
The company also owns stakes in YES Network and Legends Hospitality.
“It came about based on our relationship with Gerry and RedBird that goes back over 25 years,” Levine said.
“The Steinbrenners were one of the original investors in RedBird when Gerry started it. We worked very closely with Gerry when he was at Goldman Sachs in building the YES Network and Legends Hospitality. He was involved with Goldman’s work on the new Yankee Stadium when RedBird was formed and YES was purchased back from Disney, RedBird became a partner with us and YES.”
Back in 2013, the Yankees purchased a 20% stake in New York City FC.
“We have a little familiarity with soccer – we’ve learned a little since our relationship with City Football Group,” Levine said.
“We think it’s a good investment. Like with Man City, we do not intend to get involved in running the soccer side. We leave it to the experts. We’ve got enough to do on the baseball side.”