(Lisbon) Cristiano Ronaldo intends to enter the capital of the Cofina group, leader in the media sector in Portugal, announced Friday the group owner of a tabloid which has often drawn the wrath of the fivefold Football gold.
“Counting on Cristiano Ronaldo […] as an investor is naturally a great reason for satisfaction,” Cofina CEO Luis Santana told Lusa news agency.
The entry of the footballer into the capital of the group would take place within the framework of a “Management Buy-Out (MBO)”, a takeover of the company by its managers which will be “soon presented to the shareholders”, he said. He specifies.
“The best player in the world is very enthusiastic about investing in the media of his country in a leading project”, explained a source close to the player quoted by the economic daily Jornal de Negocios.
Dubbed the richest sportsman of all time by Forbes magazine, Ronaldo could become Cofina’s largest shareholder, with a 30% stake worth an estimated 70 million euros ($101 million). ), according to the economic information site Eco.
This press information caused Cofina’s stock to be suspended on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, pending further information.
Head of the group, the popular daily Correio da Manha has repeatedly been criticized by Cristiano Ronaldo, who notably accused him of “constantly inventing information and controversies” embarrassing for him or for the Portugal team.
In 2014, the footballer won a lawsuit against the newspaper for invasion of privacy.
He also repeatedly refused to answer questions from journalists from the Cofina group’s television, CMTV.
In full preparation for Euro-2016 in Lyon, in the east of France, the native of the island of Madeira had even seized the microphone of a reporter from CMTV to throw it into a small lake.
The Cofina group, which also controls the business daily Jornal de Negocios, the news magazine Sabado and the sports newspaper Record, generated a profit of 10.4 million euros last year, up 147% over one year. with a turnover of just over 76 million euros.
The 38-year-old striker has previously invested in Portuguese hotel group Pestana to operate hotels under the “CR7” brand.