Enlarge image
Panini pictures from the EM 2016: million dollar sales with stickers
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
The Italian collector's picture producer Panini could get a new owner: the former professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez has apparently submitted an offer to take over the traditional company.
Rodriguez's company called A-Road is offering the Modena company three billion dollars (2.54 billion euros), reported the Italian daily La Stampa.
The 45-year-old was the long-time partner of actress Jennifer Lopez (51).
The capital for the takeover apparently comes from a so-called stock exchange shell ("SPAC").
In February Rodriguez raised around half a billion dollars on the New York Stock Exchange with his shell company called Slam.
Market jackets that collect capital from investors and then merge them with companies are currently experiencing a boom.
Prominent figures, called sponsors, often play a central role.
Critics see the boom as a sign of overheating in the financial markets and warn of losses for investors.
According to media reports, Rodriguez's offer is currently being examined by the owners Panini, the Italian-Argentine entrepreneur Aldo Hugo Sallustro and the Bologna sisters Anna and Teresa Baroni.
The company, which was founded in 1961, has an annual turnover of 800 million euros.
The company was founded by four brothers in Modena, northern Italy.
The albums and collector's cards are sold in 120 countries.
Panini has had an exclusive contract with the world football association FIFA for decades.
mic / sid