Italian Journalist Matteo Marani: “Suning’s Inter Adventure Coming To An End As Oaktree Loan Is Deadline For Sale”

Italian journalist Matteo Marani outlined that Suning’s time at Inter is coming to an end by the time the Oaktree loan has to be repayed.

Italian journalist Matteo Marani explains that Suning have a set deadline to sell Inter with the repayment of the Oaktree loan fast approaching.

“Steven Zhang appeared in Florence ahead of the Inter shareholder meeting on October 28 after weeks of hiding,” Marani said in today’s print edition of Turin based Tuttosport, as reported via FCInterNews.

“The facts ahead of the meeting have been known for a while now: a loss of €140 million, which follows losses of €102 million in 2020 and the record loss of €245.6 million in 2021, only surpassed by Juventus in this fiscal period,” continued the Italian journalist.

“Suning’s management, whose policy of spending to the limit and selling players to recover their losses, has led to a loss of €1.2 billion, which is the price that Zhang is seeking to sell the club at” continued Marani.

“The project for the new stadium is a requirement for the club to be sold to an American hedge-fund group. Raine Group, alongside Goldman Sachs, hopes to repeat the same process that helped Chelsea to be sold.

“AC Milan confirmed that the United States remains the best place to find a buyer,” concluded the Italian journalist.

The Zhang family purchased 70 percent of Inter Milan for €270 million in June 2016 before struggling with liquidity problems brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic response.

As a result, Suning received a loan worth €275 million from American hedge-fund group Oaktree Capital in May 2021.

The Chinese ownership has to pay the €275 million loan back to Oaktree Capital by May 2024 or else they risk default and losing the club to the American hedge-fund group.

Inter owner Steven Zhang has tried to sell important players over the past 2 seasons to try and recoup the necessary funds.

For example, Achraf Hakimi was sold to French club PSG for €66.5 million in July 2021 and Romelu Lukaku being sold to Chelsea that same summer for a reported fee of €115 million