Juventus runs after Tether's bid and Exor's no to the sale

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Juventus Fc jumped to the top of the Piazza Affari list in the wake of the 1.1 billion offer submitted by Tether and Exor's "no" to the sale of the Juventus club. The company's shares put in the best performance on the Milan stock exchange. On Friday evening, the stablecoin group, which controls 11.527% of the company's capital, presented Exor's board of directors with an unsolicited binding offer to purchase all shares Juventus at EUR 2.66 per share. Price implying an 'equity value' for 100% equal to about 1.1 billion, a premium of about 20.74% over the official Juventus share price at the meeting of 11 December.

Close on its heels came the response from the holding company controlled by the Agnelli family, which 'does not intend to sell its shareholding in Juventus either to Tether or to any other party'. Exor "reiterates its previous and consistent statements that it has no intention of selling any shares in Juventus to third parties, including, but not limited to, Tether, based in El Salvador," reads the statement released by the company on Friday. "Juventus is a historic and successful club, of which Exor and the Agnelli family have been stable and proud shareholders for more than a century, and remain fully committed to the club, supporting its new management team in executing a clear strategy to achieve excellent results both on and off the pitch."

The pposition was formalised on Saturday by Exor's board of directors, which unanimously rejected Tether's proposal, and by its chairman John Elkann, who reiterated in a video on the club's website that 'Juventus, our history, our values are not for sale'. Juventus, the entrepreneur explained in the video, 'has been part of my family for 102 years. It is part in the true sense of the word, because in the course of a century, four generations have enlarged it, made it strong, looked after it in difficult moments, celebrated it in happy moments. But that's not all: Juve is part of a much larger family, the Bianconeri family, made up of millions of fans, who love Juve like you love your loved ones. Precisely with this passion in mind, this love story that has united us for over a century, as a family we continue to support the team and look to the future, to build a winning Juve. Juventus, our history, our values are not for sale

The decision to reject the offer "appears consistent with the control strategy and the recent capital increase aimed at strengthening the club's financial structure," comment Intermonte analysts. According to rumours, however, Tether is ready to raise and the market remains at the window. In the meantime, on Sunday evening, Juventus won by one to zero in Bologna and thanks to the three points obtained, they moved up to fifth place in the standings, bringing the Champions League zone closer

Tether, founded nin 2014 by Giancarlo Devasini, operates in cryptocurrencies linked to a stablecoin. According to Forbes, Devasini's wealth to date is estimated at $22.4 billion and he is the third richest man in Italy. Tether is headquartered in El Salvador, Central America, and reported profits of more than EUR 13 billion in 2024. A month ago, Standard & Poor downgraded stablecoin from 4 to 5, the lowest stability rating on the rating agency's scale.