Inter’s true value at the moment could be as little as €400 million, according to a report from one of Italy’s biggest daily sports newspapers today.
Corriere dello Sport’s print edition said that while putting a value on a company is not an exact science, the Nerazzurri are worth a figure in the region of the above amount.
If the €466 million value of Inter estimated by Brand Finance in its 2020 report were attributed to the Inter brand, adding the estimated value of the squad, €607 million, but subtracting the other net liabilities, €270 million, and net financial debt, €340 million, the value of the club would be between €390-400 million.
Suning have however set the bar higher than that and seeing they have invested hundreds of millions, the report claims that they would like €950 million in return for the club.
The capital value of a company is said to be the total value of its assets, the enterprise value, minus the financial debt.
This difference between those figures measures the actual wealth of the shareholders because, if a company were liquidated, the assets would be sold, with the proceeds paying the debts and the remainder would be due to the shareholders.
The assets of the club are things like the playing squad, the stadium (if owned), other properties and the brand itself.
The exact value of the current Inter squad is questionable seeing as there is no football player stock market and only a transfer window that determines the prices of players.
The Rome-based news outlet do however point toward Transfermarkt’s evaluation of the Inter squad with that particular source valuing the Inter team at €607 million, which is second only to Juventus in Serie A in terms of combined worth.
Inter do not own their stadium but do own their training facility which could be worth tens of millions, but this cannot contribute toward the enterprise value.
The rest of the club’s value is determined by intangibles such as club prestige, international notoriety and number of fans who follow the club, which can be gauged by social media following.
Suning are in talks with BC Partners but do not seem in the best of positions to dictate the conditions of any deal that is agreed.
BC Partners could be enticed by the opportunity to acquire a prime Italian sport brand and in any case, CdS go on to add that their evaluation of Inter’s worth does not take into account the potential of the San Siro project.
Inter will govern 50% of the project which will have a total worth of €1.2 billion. It will still have to be built and financed and a buyer could up the ante so as not to miss the opportunity to oversee such a lucrative operation.