La Roma change hands. From American James Pallotta equally (and perhaps more) American Dan Friedkin. The Texan tycoon is 54 and drives the Gulf States Toyota in Houston, specializing in distribution of cars manufactured in Japana turnover of about 10 billion dollars. He has re-launched the offer to conquer the Giallorossi club at a price that, apparently, Mr Pallotta cannot refuse: the verbal agreement between the parties - according to various sources - pending the exact figures, would have been reached on the basis of over 750 million euros including the 270 million debts of the company and the 150 million already planned for the recapitalization. In total over a billion, after seven years of leadership Pallotta
The agreed and now almost definitive figures, pending the official announcement, take into account the market capitalization of the last six months which has reached 413 million. Year-to-date, shares are up 20%: considering that the stock closed at 66 cents last Friday, the price for the last six months could be around 62 cents.
But who is Dan Friedkin? According to the reconstruction of Forbes magazine, his personal wealth is 4,2 billion dollars, ranked 187th on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and 504th on the list of billionaires in the world.
The Texan tycoon, as we said, is the owner of Gulf States Toyota (founded by his father in 1967), a company that is licensed to sell Toyota cars in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma: Sold $2018 billion worth of vehicles in 9. He is also a shareholder of the luxury hotel company auberge resorts, which has properties in Aspen and Cabo San Lucas.
Friedkin is also active in the cinematic field. His production studio made the 2017 film “All the Money in the World” about the kidnapping of the nephew of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Friedkin also directed his first film, "Lyrebird," which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2019.
A graduate from Georgetown University and a Masters in Business Administration from Rice University, Friedkin lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife and four children and is also distinguished by his philanthropic activity, donating $396 million. He has recently moved to preserve 6 million acres in Tanzania. Among his passions is aviation: he owns America's largest collection of old warplanes.
UPDATE:
Last night As Roma Spv LLc, the company that holds indirect control of As Roma, through its subsidiary Neep Roma Holding, confirmed in a note that "negotiations are underway" with the Friedkin group. In the note it was specified that "to date no definitive agreement for the sale has yet been formalized" and that "any transaction with the Friedkin group is subject to the successful completion of the legal due diligence activities". The market, however, is already betting on the positive outcome of the negotiations, even if the purchase agreement could be signed in the next few weeks. The title in Piazza Affari started up 4,8%.
Updated at 10:27am Monday January 30, 2019
