Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to sell AC Milan to a state-backed Chinese group — ending a three-decade-long stewardship of the football club that launched him from a little-known local entrepreneur to prime minister of Italy. The Financial Times reports Fininvest, the holding company controlled by Berlusconi, said on Friday that it had signed a “preliminary contract” with a group of Chinese investors for a 99.93% stake in AC Milan that valued the club at Euro 740m including debt of Euro 220m. Chinese investors have been snapping up stakes in European football clubs at an unprecedented pace over the past year. English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion was acquired on Friday by Guochuan Lai, a 42-year-old Chinese businessman.