Tether could test Agnelli clan's Juventus loyalty

Juventus FC SpA

15/12/2025 12:50

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Liam  Proud

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Few relationships in sports run as deep as the one between Italy's Juventus JUVE.MI and the Agnellis. The family, best-known for founding carmaker Fiat, clinched the presidency of the storied soccer club in 1923 and has effectively run the show ever since. It's unsurprising then that the clan's current scion John Elkann rejected a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) lowball approach for Juventus by cryptocurrency group Tether over the weekend. Yet the game is far from over.

The deal on the table was never going to fly. Tether late on Friday made an all-cash proposal to buy the 65% stake held by Agnelli vehicle Exor EXOR.AS for 2.66 euros per share, a price that it would extend to minority shareholders too. That implied a measly 21% premium to the undisturbed trading level. The stablecoin provider, run by boyhood Juventus fan Paolo Ardoino, has publicly built up a roughly one-tenth holding in the club so far this year. Yet the buyout approach itself came entirely out of the blue, according to a person familiar with the situation.

It's hard to imagine Elkann and his Agnelli relatives selling for a stingy one-fifth premium. The Tether offer implies an overall value for Juventus, including net debt, of about 1.3 billion euros. That's just 2.6 times expected revenue for 2026, according to Breakingviews calculations using analyst forecasts gathered by LSEG. By comparison, publicly listed Juventus traded at about 3 times forward revenue before the pandemic, while shares in $3 billion UK peer Manchester United MANU.N change hands for about 4 times forward sales.

Still, Ardoino and Tether could easily come back with more cash. Tether earned $10 billion in the first nine months of 2025 alone. Its business model involves taking in customers' money and turning it into dollar-pegged digital tokens that pay holders no interest. Meanwhile, Tether invests the cash in U.S. Treasuries and some racier assets, keeping the profit for itself. If Ardoino really wants Juventus, he's almost uniquely placed to offer silly money.

There's also some potential hidden logic to the move. Russian oligarchs and Gulf petrostates have used soccer clubs as a way to ingratiate themselves with European politicians and the general public. Tether, which is based in El Salvador and historically shied away from releasing a full audit of its finances, might like the idea of a public-relations boost from turbocharging a club that has faced financial difficulties in past years. Ardoino would have to convince sporting authorities, and the Agnellis, that Tether is a suitable steward for Juventus. Regulatory ownership reviews have not historically been a problem for well-heeled investors, however.

How much would Tether have to pay? Everything has a price. London club Chelsea in 2022 sold to a consortium including American businessman Todd Boehly for 5.7 times trailing revenue, which for Juventus would imply a 3 billion euro enterprise value. It's unclear whether that would be enough to test the Agnelli-Juventus connection, but Ardoino at least has the means to find out.

($1 = 0.8511 euros)

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CONTEXT NEWS

Shares in Juventus FC were up roughly 13% to 2.48 euros as of 1053 GMT on December 15. Cryptocurrency giant Tether bid 2.66 euros per share in cash for the soccer club after markets closed on December 12.

That compared with an undisturbed trading price for Juventus of 2.19 euros per share.

Juventus's controlling shareholder Exor, the investment vehicle of the Agnelli family, said its board had unanimously rejected Tether's "unsolicited proposal".

Tether's bid implies a low revenue multiple for Juventus https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/klvyjmmqmpg/chart.png

(Editing by George Hay; Production by Streisand Neto)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on PROUD/liam.proud@thomsonreuters.com))