Roma put up for sale amid debts

Roma coach Claudio Ranieri ( AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Roma have been officially put up for sale by the club's owners as part of a deal to clear their debts with major creditor UniCredit.

The preliminary agreement was reached last night following a final round of talks between the Italian bank and the Sensi family, who own the Serie A club through Compagnia Italpetroli.

The Sensi family has agreed to put its 67% stake in the club into a new company, Newco Roma, that will then be put up for sale by UniCredit.

UniCredit, which is owed about 325million euros by Compagnia Italpetroli, will hold a 49% stake in Newco Roma, with the Sensi family owning 51%.

Rosella Sensi will remain as chair and chief executive of the club until it is sold.

"The primary objective [will be] to go ahead with the valuation and the sale ... of the AS Roma shareholding," read a statement from Italpetroli.

Rosella Sensi, who took over as president of the club following the death of her father Franco in 2008, said the deal would "safeguard AS Roma".

The Sensi family and UniCredit will meet again on July 20 to finalise terms of the deal, which is set to see the bank additionally acquire most of Italpetroli's real estate and oil storage and distribution facilities

Roma have been the subject of takeover talk for more than three years, but the Sensi family has been unable to offload its stake in the club.

Roma finished second in Serie A last season.