Billionaire Berlusconi Heir Channels Soccer Legend Van Basten in Mediaset Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Mediaset SpA Chief Executive Officer Pier Silvio Berlusconi was looking for inspiration.

As the son of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi kicked around ideas for elevating his broadcast company to top-league level, he eventually hit on the idea of invoking soccer legend Marco van Basten.

Berlusconi adopted “Project van Basten” as the internal code name for his plan for the fledgling Media for Europe, a Dutch-registered holding seen as the next phase in grouping company assets together, people familiar with the matter said, citing internal documents compiled by Mediaset advisers.

Van Basten hails from the Netherlands, and the storied striker has strong ties to the Berlusconi family. Silvio Berlusconi’s 1987 move to recruit van Basten to his AC Milan team was an immediate hit, beginning a memorable run for AC Milan and the family.

The club won Italy’s Serie A in van Basten’s first year and, with fellow Dutch stars Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, later captured Europe’s top soccer title, currently known as the Champions League.

Silvio Berlusconi launched his storied political career on the back of the team’s strong run, holding soccer-style rallies and eventually serving four times as premier.

Media for Europe has been less of an instant success, as Mediaset has struggled to get the plan off the ground amid a legal fight between the Berlusconis and Vivendi SA, the French media conglomerate of billionaire Vincent Bollore.

Mediaset Seeks Agreement With Vivendi on Dutch Holding Plan

Bollore may be wary of the family’s bid to secure control over Mediaset, and so far Pier Silvio Berlusconi has been less successful than his father in convincing new players -- in this case other European broadcasters -- to join his team.

Still, he’s been on the offensive, with the Italian company raising its stake in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE to around 15%, a move that could bring Mediaset closer to its goal of creating an independent European television and digital powerhouse.

While that could have the Berlusconis dreaming of a return to their glory days, for the moment the family’s profile is a bit more modest.

The ex-premier sold AC Milan to a little-known Chinese investor in 2017 and the club currently ranks 14th in Serie A. The senior Berlusconi now owns the smaller Monza club, and heads the Forza Italia political party, which is running at about 7% in voter opinion polls.

--With assistance from Dan Liefgreen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Jerrold Colten, Alessandro Speciale

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