SUMMARY
- Inter Milan finds a new owner ahead of the 2024-25 season.
- After failing to pay the $430 million debt, former owner Steven Zhang loses his control over the Italian club.
Inter Milan enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in the club’s recent history. Led expertly by Simone Inzaghi, the club won the 20th Serie A title in its long and prestigious history. Italian soccer was blessed with some of the most eye-catching, attacking, and effective style of play witnessed in recent times. The Inter fanbase will have a hard time forgetting about the 2023/24 season.
However, with their on-field performances and results showing all signs of improving even further, the club has witnessed a historical change off the field. Inter Milan used to be owned by Chinese company, Suning for the past eight years. Owing to their financial difficulties, the owners were granted a loan in 2021 by an American fund by the name of Oaktree.
🚨🚨 OFFICIAL: #Inter is owned by Oaktree.
“As of May 22, 2024, Oaktree Capital Management are the owners of FC Internazionale Milano. This follows the failure to repay the three-year loan granted by Oaktree to #Inter‘s holding companies, which expired on 21 May 2024 with a… pic.twitter.com/pnd6sM1AoY
— Inter Xtra (@Inter_Xtra) May 22, 2024
Suning had appointed Steven Zhang as the club’s president during their tenure as the owners of the club. Zhang was in the end unable to repay the loan to Oaktree. As a part of their loan agreement, Suning had put their shares in Inter Milan as collateral. Failure to repay the loan has led to the American fund establishing full control over the Italian club. They have declared the takeover through an official announcement with the soccer world keenly following the developments in the situation.
A look at the financials involved in Inter Milan’s takeover
Inter Milan were in a period of concern financially after the end of the 2021/22 campaign. In order to tackle these woes and maintain their control over the club, Suning borrowed an amount close to $300 million from the US fund, Oaktree. Taking into account a compounding interest of 12% annually, the total amount to be returned by Steven Zhang in 2024 was around $430 million. The Chinese owners had until yesterday to honor their commitments but they failed to do so which ultimately has led to their exit.
🚨 Zhang had failed to repay the loan and Oaktree has immediately gone into action. The American fund will control the club while it looks for a buyer. Oaktree’s first move: delegate all actions to Beppe Marotta.
[via @CorSport] pic.twitter.com/K7tws5cMqh
— Inter Xtra (@Inter_Xtra) May 21, 2024
According to reports in Italy, the US fund will officially complete its takeover formalities in the coming weeks. A potential resale of Inter Milan is also not ruled out with Oaktree rumored to be searching for potential and interested buyers. The summer transfer window will prove to be a crucial time as far as Inter’s future is concerned with major doubts looming over the club’s ownership and management structure.
Inter Milan’s past financial troubles under Suning
The Suning era at Inter Milan will be remembered by the club’s fans with a lot of mixed emotions. In the eight seasons under the Chinese owners, Inter was able to reach back to the pinnacle of Italian soccer. Having struggled with silverware, Inter Milan was provided a new direction by Suning. Steven Zhang had led the Nerazzurri to two Scudettos, two Coppa Italia titles, three Italian Super Cups as well as reaching the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.
As owner, Suning and the Zhang family spent the total of one billion.
2016-17
€145m – Most expensive signing Joao Mario €44m2017-2018
€208m – Nainggolan €39m2018-2019
€107m – Lautaro €25m2019-2020
€217m – Lukaku €74m2020-21
€99m – Sensi €28m2021-2022
€120m… pic.twitter.com/nnpoYPyJkj— FedeNerazzurra ⭐️⭐️ (@F_Nerazzurra) May 22, 2024
However, the financial troubles under Suning were always a reason for disappointment for the Inter fans. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Inter Milan suffered liquidity issues as well as loss of revenue streams. Ever since then, the club has been forced to sell one of their star players in every transfer window to carry out further transfer activities. Achraf Hakimi, Andre Onana, Marcelo Brozovic, and more were allowed to leave the club to obtain capital gains.
Inter Milan fans have expressed a sense of relief and hope that their club can continue to grow forward under the new owners without having to sell a high-value player every summer. Despite, Suning’s off-the-field troubles, their contribution to Inter Milan cannot be overlooked. Oaktree will have a challenging task at their hands to improve on the performance of the club’s previous owners.