Suning have three hundred days, more or less, to settle their future at Inter Milan, with three possible paths before them.
This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who note that the current Nerazzurri owners can either pay off their debt to Oaktree, refinance the loan, or lose control of the club.
The looming due date of a massive loan from US-based fund Oaktree Capital is at the heart of uncertainty surrounding Suning’s future at Inter.
The loan, taken on in 2021, was for €275 million. That money was necessary for Suning to cover operating costs at the Nerazzuri amid pandemic-related financial difficulties.
Whilst that money was vital in order to inject liquidity into Inter, it came with major ramifications.
Suning put Inter up as collateral for the loan. Therefore, if the Nerazzurri owners are to default on the loan, they will lose control of the club.
Paying the loan back, moreover, has become even more difficult. With interest rates rising to 12%, Suning’s debt exposure on the loan will wise to €329.6 million at the end of 2022.
Three Paths Forward For Suning At Inter Milan
With the Oaktree loan coming due on May 20, 2024, Tuttosport note that Suning have three paths forward. They will have just under three hundred days to figure out which.
The first, of course, would be for the Inter owners to pay the loan back. This would be the simplest path forward, but also the least likely.
The amount of money that Suning would have to come up with to pay in order to pay the loan back including all interest would be an absolutely enormous sum. And the owners have less than a year to do so.
Therefore, barring extremely unexpected developments, this won’t likely be the next move.
On the other hand, the path forward that Suning appear to be working toward would be to refinance the Oaktree loan.
This would give the owners a new window of time in which to pay back the loan.
Suning will have to succeed in negotiations with the US-based fund. But that is exactly what they are currently trying to do.
The final path forward, however, would simply be for Suning to lose control of Inter.
This is not an eventuality that the owners would like to see. Their aim is still to stay in charge of the Nerazzurri.
However, there is less than a year to go before the loan comes due.
This could put pressure on the owners to complete a sale of the club. And, if they are not able to either sell Inter, pay the loan back, or agree terms on refinancing, then it is written in stone – control of Inter would pass into the hands of Oaktree whether Suning like it or not.
And whatever does happen, it will have to do so within the next three hundred or so days.
