The Sale of Pallacanestro Trieste to CSG
Mario J Abate, of counsel to Pavia e Ansaldo and head of its US desk, advised Delaware-based Cotogna Sports Group (CSG) on its agreement to purchase 90% of the share capital of Pallacanestro Tieste, a professional Italian men’s basketball club from Trieste which plays in the Lega Basket Serie A1.
Campa Avvocati advised the seller. Mario was assisted by colleagues Emanuele Rossi, partner and Pietro Miazzi, associate of the firm.
CSG comprises a group of American investors, graduates from the Wharton School of Business, with particular experience in the sports world and a focus on the NBA, sports marketing and financial markets in America and Europe. They are focused on buying and developing sporting franchises all over the world. Founded by Richard de Meo, Fitzann R. Reid, Prab S. Sekhon, Richard Johnson, John Jefferies, and former NFL player Connor Barwin,This deal will see the group’s formal entry into the international sports market. The remaining 10% of the company’s shares not acquired by CSG will remain with a group of local shareholders.
The deal is notable for facilitating the second American ownership at the highest level of professional basketball in Italy, the only previous ownership being the 1999 acquisition of Olimpia Milano by Italian-American entrepreneur Pasquale Caputo.
Mario Abate is a prominent figure in the market whose practice focuses on M&A, cross-border transactions and international joint ventures predominantly between the United States and Italy and start ups of U.S. business entities
