Following a €275 million deal earlier this week, Oaktree Capital are set to become minority stakeholders of Inter, according to Italian media.
The California-based investment fund provided Nerazzurri owners Suning with the substantial loan to help ease financial burdens at the club, following lengthy negotiations.
As reported in today’s newspaper edition of Tuttosport, part of the amount provided will be used to buy out the 31% shares owned by LionRock, effectively making Oaktree Capital minority stakeholders.
It is argued that Suning are reluctant to publicly announce the transfer of LionRock shares to Oaktree as they had recently been supported by the Chinese state, and a partnership with an American investment firm would be difficult to justify in Beijing.
Similarly, it is suggested that there is growing tension between Suning and LionRock over the financial details at the club, prompting the former to avoid going into details until the situation has been clarified between the two parties.