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Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family and owner of Juventus for over a century, rejected an unsolicited allâcash takeover proposal from Tether Investments on Dec. 13, blocking a âŹ1.1 billion offer for its 65.4% stake in Juventus Football Club.
In this article, letâs try to analyze what happened and why the attempt failed.
Tether had offered âŹ2.66 per share for Exorâs holding, a 21% premium to Juventusâ 12 December close of âŹ2.19 in Milan, according to the terms reported by Reuters and Exorâs advisers.
The proposal implied an equity valuation just over âŹ1.0 billion, or roughly $1.17â$1.30 billion depending on FX at trade date. Exorâs rejection landed less than 24 hours after Tether went public with the bid. Juventus shares last traded near that preâbid level after an initial spike faded as the deal path closed.
Tether had framed the move as a longâhorizon play. In its proposal, summarised in market reports from Nasdaq and others, Tether said it intended to fund the deal entirely with its own capital and then launch a tender offer for the free float at the same âŹ2.66 level.
On X, the circulating joke is that Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO and Italian native, has plotted the deal since day 1 because heâs a long-term club fan. It is worth noting that Tether already owns a minority stake in Juventus.
Pretty sure the CEO of Tether just used the company to buy Juventus because he's a Juventus fan.
Mans been plotting since the day he got promoted from CTO to CEO. pic.twitter.com/gZImA41CRz
â Steve Cubes (@SteveCubes) December 13, 2025
Some analysts believe the bid was a huge underevaluation, as Juventus has its own stadium and one of the largest fan bases in the EU. However, separate coverage citing Tetherâs pitch deck noted a pledge to invest an additional âŹ1 billion in Juventus over time for stadium, commercial, and sporting development, bringing the total deployed capital to âŹ2.1 billion.
Juventus, valued at âŹ1.1 billion by Tether: despite their âŹ840 million market capitalization, this figure is not considered appropriate for a club with its own stadium and by far the largest fan base in Italy. By comparison, AC Milan was acquired by RedBird for âŹ1.2 billion. pic.twitter.com/IBClLuBCC6
â CALCIO WITH RINO Z (@ZaurriniRino) December 13, 2025
In its official note, Exor repeated that it has âno intention of selling any of its shares in Juventus to a third party, including but not restricted to El Salvadorâbased Tether.â
The holding company highlighted that Exor and the Agnelli family have backed Juventus for âover a centuryâ. It framed the club as a core longâterm asset rather than a financial position. The timing comes three weeks after Juventus raised about âŹ97.8 million through a rights issue to cut debt and recapitalise operations.
Juventus released a separate video message on its own channels in which Exor CEO John Elkann doubled down on the stance. âJuventus, our history and our values are not for sale,â Elkann stated in the video. He added that Juve has been in the family for 102 years and that four generations have carried it through both âtough timesâ and title runs.
John Elkann: âJuventus, our history, and our values, are not for sale.â pic.twitter.com/nC6pX8s327
â JuventusFC đŹđ§đșđž (@juventusfcen) December 13, 2025
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Exorâs answer was blunt. No sale, to Tether or anyone. That position matches background briefings to Reuters in which sources close to the Agnelli camp stressed there is âno intentionâ of exiting Juventus, despite a decade of thin or negative net profit and a 27% share price slide this year before the offer surfaced.
For traders reading through the noise, the deal spread is gone. The more interesting line is what this signals about crypto capital trying to buy into oldâmoney franchises.
Tether stressâtested whether a $130 billion stablecoin issuer can deploy a billionâeuro premium check and pry loose a centuryâold family asset, and failed instantly. That tells us two things.
First, legacy control shareholders in marquee sports brands still prioritize governance, heritage, and political optics over crypto liquidity, even when the premium hits 20% and a further âŹ1 billion in capex is committed.
Second, as more token issuers stack cash from reserve income and seek realâworld yield, they will continue to probe regulated, highâvisibility assets. Regulators, rating desks, and equity holders now have a live template for how Europeâs family holding companies respond. Any future cryptoâtoâlistedâclub approach will need more than a headline valuation bump. It will need a governance structure and reputational package that entrenched owners can defend to their own boards and domestic regulators.
The post Why Tether Failed to Buy Juventus and What Should We Learn from It? appeared first on Coinspeaker.
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