Inter Milan owners Suning are in talks with two different US-based funds as they seek to refinance their debt to Oaktree Capital.
This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, via FCInter1908. The newspaper also note that the timeline is increasingly tight for the Nerazzurri owners.
At the moment, Suning are just a couple months away from the expiry of the deadline of the loan that they took on from US-based fund Oaktree Capital in 2021.
That deadline will come in May of this year.
Therefore, Suning will have to come up with a plan to retain control of Inter very soon.
La Repubblica note that the Inter owners are working on two fronts.
Firstly, there is the option of agreeing an extension of the deadline of the loan.
Suning could agree an extension with Oaktree by increasing the interest from 12% to 15%. This would see the total amount that the Inter owners owe to Oaktree increase by around €100 million.
But there is another possibility.
Inter Owners In Talks With Two US Funds To Refinance Debt To Oaktree
According to La Repubblica, there are open talks with two unnamed funds in the US.
Suning, via the mediation of investment banks Goldman Sachs and Raine Group, are aiming to agree a refinancing package with one of the two unnamed funds should they not secure an agreement with Oaktree.
But La Repubblica note that the process would take at least six weeks.
And the expiry of the deadline of the loan from Oaktree is on May 20th.
Therefore, time is running out for Suning to sort something out.
With each passing day, the pressure grows in that sense.
La Repubblica note that, should Suning not be able to get a refinance packaging over the line, then there would be a real chance that Oaktree take control of Inter from the Chinese company.
Meanwhile, the newspaper anticipate, Beppe Marotta will remain as Inter’s CEO of sport no matter what ends up happening with the ownership situation at the club.
