In an expected move, SL Benfica management considered Joe Berardo´s offer for 85% of Benfica stock as “inopportune”.   Joe Berardo himself wasn´t surprised with the decision, and in an early reaction said that “Benfica should remain in the hands of the fans”, adding that “Benfica should always own 51% of the common stock and the remaining 49% should float freely in the market”.  Just in case this sounds somewhat confusing, in Portugal, the actual club “Benfica” and the stock traded on the exchange “Benfica, SAD” are two separate legal entities, but have a very intricate relationship, where one pays the other for certain things, namely stadium use, player formation, and the like.  This applies to all Portugal teams and not only Benfica.  This is just another one of those situations where Portugal, and Portugal law, complicate matters.

Meanwhile, the “non-existent” Chinese interest in SL Benfica is going to be keeping the CMVM (The Portuguese version of the SEC in the States) busy for sometime.  The also “non-existent” CMVM wants to know, who, what, and where the offer for Benfica stock came from.  I recall that the alleged interest in Benfica´s common stock by a Chinese group of investors lasted about 24 hours and was never legally formalized.  They probably figured out how confusing our laws are and that they would have to deal with the CMVM

SL Benfica stock closed the week at 3.64 Euros, slightly above the price offered by Joe Berardo of 3.50 Euros.