U.S. billionaire Dan Friedkin said on Tuesday he would not pay a premium to AS Roma's minority investors tendering their shares in a mandatory offer which will be launched after the tycoon will secure the control of Italy's Serie A soccer club.
In a statement published upon request of Italy's market regulator Consob, Friedkin said he would offer 0.1165 euros (0.1048 pounds) per share to buy Roma's minority investors' holdings.
The amount is in line with the price agreed last week to buy an 86.6% stake from a consortium led by U.S. businessman James Pallotta but is nearly five times lower than the price at which the club's shares were trading before the agreement was announced.
Since then, Roma shares have lost nearly half their value. Shares were trading at 0.28 euros by 0850 GMT on Tuesday.
Last week Roma said Friedkin signed an agreement to buy the club in a nearly 600-million euro deal, which included 413 billion euros in debt.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
