The High Court of Hong Kong has ordered the liquidation of Rossoneri Sport Investment Co., Limited following an unpaid debt claim of 17,966,989.59 euros brought by General Fantasy Company. The ruling ties back to the corporate network utilized during the 2017 acquisition of Italian football club AC Milan.
The Bottom Line
- The Creditor: General Fantasy Company, a firm owned by Huang Qingbo—the wife of Yonghong Li—secured the liquidation order.
- The Exposure: The court judgment centers on a 15-million-euro loan issued in August 2016, which escalated to nearly 18 million euros with 7% annual interest.
- Broader Distress: This judicial action compounds Yonghong Li’s ongoing insolvency issues, following his personal bankruptcy declared in Hong Kong in July 2025.
Court Dissects the 2016 Loan Structure
The legal proceedings in the First Instance Court of Hong Kong, with reasons published in 2026, revealed the mechanics of the debt. The original transaction involved 15 million euros transferred in August 2016 to the Hong Kong-based vehicle that later sat at the top of the ownership chain for AC Milan. The loan contract carried a 24-month term with a 7% interest rate, maturing in August 2018. When payment failed to materialize, total claims climbed to 17,966,989.59 euros.
Attorneys for Rossoneri Sport Investment contested the validity of the loan, its maturity schedule, and argued that the debt had lapsed under statute-of-limitations rules. However, General Fantasy Company countered by presenting direct records of the money transfer alongside four separate written communications in which the debtor acknowledged the obligation. The presiding judge dismissed the defense’s arguments regarding the timeline, ruling that the subsequent acknowledgments preserved the validity of the claim.
Omissions and the China CITIC Factor
The liquidation review also surfaced complications involving institutional lenders. In September 2024, China CITIC—acting via its subsidiary China XinZhi Overseas Investment Holdings—appointed two professionals from PwC to oversee pledged shares tied to a 150-million-dollar bond issuance. Those funds had been critical to helping Yonghong Li complete the acquisition of AC Milan from Fininvest.
During initial audits by CITIC representatives, Li pointed to the bond financing and a separate credit facility from Elliott Management, omitting any mention of the 15-million-euro liability owed to his wife’s firm. Rossoneri Sport Investment attempted to leverage this omission in court to invalidate the claim. The tribunal rejected the defense strategy, concluding that the oversight did not override the verified money transfers and explicit debt acknowledgments.
Financial Exposure and Legal Fallout
The winding down of the acquisition vehicle adds another layer to a complex cross-border debt trail. In November 2025, courts formally processed Yonghong Li’s personal bankruptcy, which originated from an exposure tally reaching approximately 289.17 million dollars. That insolvency proceeding stemmed from personal guarantees Li executed in 2017 to back the bondholders who financed the football club purchase.
| Entity / Individual | Role in Litigation | Financial Claim / Exposure |
|---|---|---|
| General Fantasy Company | Creditor (Owned by Huang Qingbo) | 17,966,989.59 euros (including 7% interest) |
| Rossoneri Sport Investment | Debtor (Acquisition vehicle) | Subject to court-ordered liquidation |
| Yonghong Li | Guarantor | Personal bankruptcy totaling ~$289.17 million |
The financial architecture built to support the 2017 takeover continues to unravel through international court filings. With the liquidation of Rossoneri Sport Investment now ordered, asset recovery efforts by creditors—including family-linked entities—remain active across multiple jurisdictions.
