Irish company behind ‘Milan’s third football team’ has days to comply with Nasdaq requirement

Brera Holdings, an Irish-based company set up in 2022 to hold an Italian amateur soccer club with a “mixed” competition performance, has just 11 days to file its latest annual report to appease the Nasdaq stock market after missing a deadline two months ago.

The loss-making company received a warning from the Nasdaq on May 16th that it had until July 15th to submit a plan to the stock market operator “to regain compliance” and, if accepted, Brera could be granted up to a further six months to meet the plan.

A company that ultimately does not meet reporting requirements faces the prospect of delisting.

Brera said last month that it plans to file its annual report – or so-called 20-F filing – by the middle of July to regain compliance. The company’s chief executive, Pierre Galoppi, has not responded to requests from The Irish Times for comment on the reasons for the delay.

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Shares in Brera have slumped 85 per cent since they were floated on the Nasdaq in late January 2023 – with over half of the slump coming in the first five days of trading. It currently has a market value of $8.5 million (€7.9 million).

The company, registered in Ireland for tax purposes with an address on Burlington Road in Dublin 4, controls Milan’s Brera FC.

Brera FC, the so-called “third team of Milan” after Inter Milan and AC Milan, has been in existence since 2000. Brera Holdings was set up in Dublin in June 2022 to hold the “cult club” as it went about raising money in an initial public offering (IPO) to expand by acquiring and developing a portfolio of football clubs in emerging markets including eastern Europe, Africa and South America.

Brera expanded to Africa in March last year with the establishment of Brera Tchumene, a team admitted to the second division league in Mozambique, before acquiring 90 per cent of North Macedonian first league club FK Akademija Pandev a month later.

In June 2023, Brera acquired a small “strategic stake” in Manchester United, making what it claimed was a 74 per cent gain at the end of the year as it tendered all of its shares as UK billionaire Jim Rathcliffe made an offer for a minority stake in the club.

Brera also acquired control of Italian Serie A1 women’s professional volleyball team UYBA Volley 12 months ago.

The company’s founding CEO, Sergio Scalpelli, resigned last summer, replaced by his chief financial officer, Pierre Galoppi. The company has estimated that it posted a $2.7 million net loss last year, its first year as a listed company, on revenues of $1.8 million.

It previously guided that its administrative expenses amounted to €4.6 million, including costs associated with athletes and staff, advertising and marketing expenses, lease expenses and transportation and accommodation.

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