Silvio Berlusconi plans asset sale as he eyes up another return to power

The disgraced tycoon and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is planning a colossal assets sale to finance his return to a position of power and influence, insiders say.

Even AC Milan, one of the jewels in the crown of the mogul’s business empire, is up for grabs with news that Thai millionaire Bee Taechaubol had met Berlusconi in his Arcore villa, the scene of the notorious bunga bunga parties, to offer €500million for a 51 per cent stake in the football club. Chinese investors are also circling.

At the same time a large chunk of the tycoon’s Mediaset television empire appears to be on the market too, after it emerged that Berlusconi had met fellow media baron Rupert Murdoch to discuss what the Berlusconi family have called “investment” in the business.

Berlusconi’s son, the Mediaset vice president Pier Silvio Berlusconi, said the family’s continuing control of the company was not in question. But Berlusconi junior said Mediaset might consider investments from other firms. He also confirmed the meetings between his father and Mr Murdoch.

By selling off parts of AC Milan, Mediaset plus stakes in his finance and publishing businesses, 78-year-old Berlusconi, who last month completed a year-long community service sentence for tax fraud, could generate a €5billion in liquid funds, according to reports in the Italian press.

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The mogul’s business empire has been under severe pressure in the past few years. The all-important television advertising revenues have crashed due to the long and brutal recession, while his Fininvest holding company was made to pay a crushing €494million fine to Berlusconi’s arch rival, Carlo De Benedetti, for the illegal means with which it won a takeover battle for the Mondadori publisher in 1992.

One source close to the Berlusconi camp told The Independent, however, that the three-time former prime minister was not selling up, but was planning a financial and political counter-attack after years of failing fortunes and legal battles.

“With all this liquidity he hopes to return to the position of king maker,” he said. “This is not about cashing in his chips. He’s not selling up to give his money over to his children and settle down. He is re-organising, restructuring, and with this huge amount of cash he hopes to become the centre of power again.”

The source said that Berlusconi was also looking to by a stake in the Corriere Della Sera newspaper – something the mogul had tried but failed to do in the past.

As a result of his definitive criminal conviction Berlusconi cannot stand for parliament until 2019 by which time he will be 82. But a sizeable stake in Corriere, Italy’s centrist newspaper of record, would certainly boost his power and influence.

The mogul has also talked about launching a new centre-right party to replace his crumbling Forza Italia. And having so much cash at his disposal would allow him to influence other centre-right parties, observers say.

Roberto D’Alimonte, a political pundit at Rome’s LUISS University, predicted that Berlusconi would use his financial muscle to maintain his political power, influence election campaigns – and protect his long-term business interests.

“Berlusconi is never going to be on the political front line again. But he will absolutely act by reorganising his assets to maintain his behind-the-scenes power,” he said. “And this way he can help protect his remaining business interests and protect himself from legal threats. This is all it’s ever been about for Berlusconi.”

‘Being Berlusconi: The Rise and Fall, from Cosa Nostra to Bunga Bunga’, by Michael Day will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in July.