Inter president Steven Zhang will hold a conference call with the Nerazzurri’s management tonight as the club’s talks with BC Partners enter ‘a crucial phase’, according to an Italian media report.
As per Gazzetta dello Sport‘s online edition, BC Partners completed their due diligence of Inter’s accounts on Friday, meaning it is now time for them to begin negotiations with Suning over buying into the club.
There is still considerable distance between Suning and the British-based private equity fund’s valuations for Inter, though, with ‘important updates’ expected on this front later today.
Suning, who have invested €550 million into Inter over the last four and a half years, want €750 million plus debts for the club, whereas BC Partners’ current proposal is ‘a long way off’ that figure.
Gazzetta’s report explained that one of the obstacles to agreeing a deal at the moment is the parties’ differing priorities.
Suning are focusing on securing a quick injection of capital – to solve Inter’s current liquidity issues – while BC Partners are aiming to make a significant and long-term investment into the club.
Newly-imposed Chinese government restrictions mean Suning are now unable to export capital to Europe, which has forced Inter to defer player salary payments for November and December until the end of the season.
Suning’s plan to raise the funds they needed to meet all their upcoming deadlines, including one with UEFA in March, was to sell LionRock’s 31.05% stake in Inter to another fund, but BC Partners want more than to be mere minority shareholders at Inter.
The way to solve the impasse could be for BC Partners to grant Suning a secured loan, whereby the British firm would provide the immediate liquidity necessary and leave Suning as majority shareholders, but only on the condition they are able to repay the loan by a certain date.
Should Suning fail to do this as agreed, control of the club would automatically pass over to BC Partners, who would then become Inter’s new owners.
Gazzetta noted that while such an operation works in most industries, it is not a simple arrangement to make work in a footballing context, because it would be unclear who exactly had power to make decisions at Inter while the loan was still pending.
The secured loan would however ensure Suning a ‘budget’ for next season, and it would reportedly be down to them to decide how to spend it.
BC Partners would pocket the interest from the loan but the interest is believed to be one of the current knots in negotiations.
The operation remains hugely complex, though, with the Milanese publication assuring it was still too soon to understand how everything would shake out.
BC Partners could even recruit additional funds to create a financial consortium of sorts, before investing in Inter as a group.
Inter president Zhang will update the Nerazzurri’s directors on the situation this evening, but it seems clear February is a crucial month for the club’s future, off the pitch as well as on it.