Inter fans can look to the future with confidence after the club secured investment from Oaktree Capital, according to an Italian football finance expert.
The Nerazzurri’s owners Suning finalised a €275 million financing deal from the US-based private equity firm on Thursday, covering costs for this season and the start of next season.
Suning have pledged their stake in Inter as part of the deal, meaning Oaktree would become the club’s new owners if the Chinese giant failed to repay their loan within three years.
“The deal with Oaktree, who are one of the world’s most important funds, is a double guarantee,” Marco Bellinazzo told Radio 24 during ‘Tutti Convocati’ on Friday.
“On the one hand, it ensures Suning are committed to covering Inter’s costs in the short term (player salaries, transfer installments and so on).
“On the other, it means that if Suning were unable to respect the terms of the agreement, Inter would be in safe hands anyway because this fund would take over at the club.
“That’s the worst-case scenario, but even in that situation you’d be in the hands of a Canadian fund who manages assets worth up to $600 billion.
“Oaktree are a strong guarantee that Inter will remain at a high level.”
Despite Oaktree’s investment, Inter are still set for a tough summer in the transfer market where they could be forced to sell one or more key players.
Suning have made it clear they need to cut costs heading into next season, after Inter lost huge swathes of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic (most notably from San Siro, where fans haven’t attended games in more than a year).
“The deal doesn’t mean Inter have solved their problems,” Bellinazzo warned.
“They’re the club which has lost most from COVID-19, so they’ll have to go into the transfer window with a policy of self-sufficiency.
“It will be very difficult, but they’ll aim to cut the operating costs of their squad and their amortisations, which currently total a little more than €320 million, by around 10%.
“That would enable Inter to recover the €100 million they lost this year.”