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 Golden Ball. “Counting on Cristiano Ronaldo (…) as an investor is naturally a source of great satisfaction,” Cofina CEO Luis Santana told the 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 the idea of 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.
Honored by Forbes magazine as the richest sportsman of all time, Ronaldo could become Cofina’s largest shareholder, with a 30% stake worth an estimated 70 million euros, according to the Eco economic information site. This press information caused Cofina’s stock to be suspended on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, pending additional information.
A long-standing dispute
Head of the group, the popular daily Correio da Manha has been criticized several times 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, the native of the island of Madeira had even seized the microphone of a reporter from CMTV to throw it in a small lake. The Cofina group, which also controls the business daily Jornal de Negocios, the newsmagazine 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 already invested in the Portuguese hotel group Pestana to operate hotels under the “CR7” brand.