BC Partners are not ruling out the possibility of taking full control at Inter, according to an Italian newspaper report today.
As per La Repubblica, the British investment firm are interested in getting involved at Inter and talks with Suning, Inter’s majority shareholder, and LionRock Capital, Inter’s minority shareholder, are at an early stage.
There is no guarantee that a deal will go through though as others could well submit offers to Suning for the Nerazzurri, who they have owned for four and a half years now.
It is possible that BC Partners could initially obtain a minority stake in Inter and it is also understood that they are not frightened by some of Suning’s recent actions with regard to Inter.
In December, the Chinese e-commerce giants, together with Runxian, would have pledged 100% of Suning Holdings (the company they own Inter through) to Taobao, a subsidiary of the Alibaba group owned by China’s richest man, Jack Ma.
The report goes on to explain that in the meantime Inter president Steven Zhang is seeking a new main sponsor and is also looking to refinance two bonds worth a total of €375 million, which are due to expire next year.
