In four months' time, Inter's €275 million loan contract with Oaktree Capital will expire. With interest, the Nerazzurri will pay €350 million to the US fund. On January 12, the Italian magazine "Panorama" revealed that when signing the loan contract, Inter President Zhang Kangyang kept his hands behind to ensure that he would not run out of money and money.
The matter of Inter Milan's loan from Oaktree Capital is well known: in May 2021, Inter Milan borrowed 275 million euros from Oaktree Capital, which was repaid three years later, for a total of 350 million euros.
With four months to go, Zhang Kangyang needed to find a new financier and take six weeks to run the deal, which was a tight time and a heavy task. Many media pointed out that if Inter Milan cannot repay the loan in May, then Inter will change hands, and Suning will cede the club to Oaktree Capital. In this way, Zhang Kangyang and Zhang Jindong, father and son, will repeat the mistakes of Li Yonghong (who took out the loan to buy AC Milan and was later taken over by Elliott......
If you can't repay the loan, Suning will lose Inter - will such an extreme situation really occur? Panorama revealed that a 30-page document shows that Oaktree Capital really does not dare to monopolize Inter.
Let's talk about the reasons in detail.
If Zhang Kangyang raises 350 million euros (equivalent to 2.8 billion yuan) through refinancing, and returns the loan to Oaktree Capital in May, Inter will still be under Suning's control and survive the crisis, and Oaktree Capital will get 75 million euros in interest in three years, and both parties will be happy.
What if not? Zhang Kangyang has an agreement in the loan contract that Oaktree Capital needs to buy Inter Milan at "Fair Market Value".
What is this "fair market value"? AC Milan sold 1.2 billion euros and Inter Milan was worth between 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion.
Assuming that Inter's fair market value is 1.2 billion euros, after deducting 750 million euros of liabilities and deducting 350 million euros of loans, Oaktree Capital will return 100 million euros to Suning. In addition, Suning's Grand Tower will receive an equity value of 125 million euros. Together, Oaktree Capital will pay Suning 225 million euros.
Assuming that the fair value of Inter is 1.3 billion euros, Oaktree Capital will have to pay 300 million euros to Suning if it wants to "monopolize" Inter! This is not Oaktree Capital's intention, they only want to borrow to earn interest, and have no plan to run a football club. After all, taking over Inter requires a huge investment, a professional team.
"Panorama" analysis pointed out that Zhang Kangyang is a "win-win" - either keep Inter, or Suning get the money out of the game. With a loan of 275 million euros and a compensation of 300 million euros, Suning received a total of 575 million euros, equivalent to 4.5 billion yuan!
Therefore, the conclusion of various Italian media is unanimous: Oaktree Capital does not dare to take the risk of taking over Inter, and Suning will not give up Inter to Oaktree Capital.