Oaktree provides €275m in financing to Inter Milan

Inter is majority owned by Chinese retail giant Suning Holding Group, which controls a stake of 68.55%, while Hong Kong-based LionRock Capital owns 31.05%.

Following the deal, Suning and LionRock have pledged their stake in the company as collateral. This implies that Oaktree will become the club's new owner if the current shareholders are not able to repay the loan by 2024.

Suning has been looking for an investor to provide fresh financing to the football club since the beginning of 2021, following a troubled time for the Serie A club, which was badly affected by the pandemic.

Founded in 1908, Inter is an Italian football club with around 250 million supporters worldwide.

The club's trophies include 18 Serie A league titles, seven Coppa Italias, five Italian Super Cups, three Uefa Cups, two European Cups, one Uefa Champions League, two Intercontinental Cups and one Fifa Club World Cup. Inter's home stadium is Milan-based Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, which has 78,326 seats. 

Suning acquired a 68.55% stake in Inter in June 2016. According to press reports, the company paid €270m as part of an overall €750m deal, which included €230m in debt and a €100m loan from Thohir.

LionRock, a Hong Kong private equity firm founded in 2011 by businessman Daniel Kar Keung Tseung, is a shareholder in the Suning Sport group, which has led to speculation that this acquisition of a minority stake in Inter could be a move for Suning to assume full ownership of the company in the coming months.

In January 2019, LionRock acquired a 31.05% stake in Inter from Indonesian entrepreneur Erick Thohir, who held his ownership through his company International Sports Capital. The was understood to be valued at around €150m.

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• Topics
• Investments
• Refinancing
• Oaktree Capital Management
• Italy