Football and money: another Romanian businessman, shareholder in a major Italian club

Local football is increasingly well represented in Italy, both through players and investors, more recently. After Dan Ţucu bought the majority stake in Genoa, another businessman with Romanian roots is investing in a traditional Serie A team. The American investment fund Presidio Investors, where Christian Puscasiu is managing partner, bought the Italian football club Hellas Verona from the Italian entrepreneur Maurizio Setti. Presidio Investors, based in Texas, is the latest American group to buy an Italian football club. Top clubs Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Parma, Fiorentina, Venezia and Atalanta are all controlled by American owners. "We have worked hard in recent months to achieve this goal and we are looking forward to taking our first steps in this historic city, leading a club that is an integral part of Verona and its people," said Christian Puscasiu. Financial details were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the deal values the club at 120-130 million euros ($123-134 million), including debt and some variable components. Verona, which won its only national championship in 1985, is currently 17th in Serie A, just above the relegation zone. Maurizio Setti, who was advised by Deutsche Bank on the deal, will remain at the club as chief advisor for football operations. He has been in charge for 13 years. Italo Zanzi, the former chief executive of AS Roma, will take over as executive chairman.

Christian Puscasiu joined Presidio Investors in 2017 and has been, according to news.ro, an active private equity investor, entrepreneur and professor. Puscasiu lives in California. Before joining Presidio, he was Co-Head of Direct Private Equity Investments at Caisse de depôt et placement du Quebec ("CDPQ"), Canada's second largest pension fund manager, managing a private equity portfolio of over $30 billion. His team has invested over $4 billion directly in companies. Christian Puscasiu holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in electrical and computer engineering.