Distressed! According to the latest news from the Italian media "Milan Sport", since the refinancing negotiations between Suning and the American capital PIMCO have broken down, Oaktree Capital will take over Inter after the repayment date. This means that Zhang Kangyang, who is the owner of Suning, may lose the position of president of Inter.
In 2021, in response to the impact of the global virus, Zhang Kangyang borrowed 275 million euros from Oaktree Capital as collateral for more than 60% of Inter's equity at an interest rate of 12% for a period of three years.
Unfortunately, at the end of last year, Zhang Kangyang felt that there was no way to repay the loan on time before May 20 this year. He then requested a preferential interest payment of €105 million from Oaktree Capital to refinance the remaining €275 million in principal.
Given Zhang's willingness to raise the refinancing rate, which could reach 16% or more, Oaktree did initially feel tempted, and they did not object.
But with Inter in the Champions League round of 16, voices within Oaktree began to question Zhang's leadership and worry about his ability to repay in the future, so they rejected his refinancing plan in negotiations and demanded that the loan be repaid on time or they would take over Inter.
Cornered, Zhang Kangyang was apparently helpless, and he had to leave Italy and negotiate with a number of consortiums in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States in the hope of obtaining their refinancing support.
Hard work pays off! After unremitting efforts, the American consortium PIMCO was impressed by Zhang Kangyang, and they were willing to provide Zhang Kangyang with a loan of no more than 430 million euros, with an interest rate of up to 15%, for a period of three years.
But the storm has changed! At the critical juncture of Zhang's imminent PIMCO loan to cover the principal and interest of Oaktree Capital's borrowing of 380 million euros, Oaktree Capital used the legal means at their disposal to thwart Zhang's refinancing plan because they wanted Suning to sell Inter as soon as possible so that Oaktree Capital could make more profit from it.
Now there are only two days left before the repayment date on May 20, Zhang Kangyang is indeed powerless, Inter will most likely be taken over by Oaktree Capital, and Zhang Kangyang has to step down from the position of club chairman.
So what does Inter's future hold for them in the hands of Oaktree? Obviously, this is still unknown, but what we know for sure is that the Nerazzurri may be losing one of their best presidents.
Zhang Kangyang took over as president of Inter Milan in October 2018 and in his nearly six years at the helm of the Nerazzurri, he brought seven trophies to the team, including two Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia and three Italian Super Cups. In addition, Inter Milan also managed to reach the Champions League final last season. It also makes Zhang Kangyang Inter's most successful club president since the treble in 2009-10.
Of course, in addition to his excellent performance at the competitive level, Zhang Kangyang has also made a great contribution to Inter in terms of finance, and as of the first half of this season, Inter has begun to turn losses into profits and achieve a net profit of 22.3 million euros.
According to statistics, Inter Milan had a total debt of 881 million euros in July 2022, and this figure was reduced to 807 million euros a year later.
According to the analysis of relevant Italian financial experts, with Inter's current revenue momentum and Zhang Kangyang's vigorous advocacy of opening up sources and reducing expenditure, Inter's total liabilities in March this year will be less than 700 million euros, or as low as 650 million euros.
In addition, we must also acknowledge Zhang Kangyang's contribution to the building of the Inter team, which has built a management team with Marotta, Antonello, Osirio, Barkin, and Inzaghi Jr. following the recruitment of sporting manager Marotta from Juventus in December 2018.
Zhang Kangyang adheres to the principle of "professional things are done by professional people", and while grasping the general direction, he lets go of the daily and detailed affairs to Marotta and them to take care of. And Zhang Kangyang, in order to keep this core team, he used the fat contract last year to keep Marotta and them until 2027. Inzaghi Jr., the team's manager, is also about to renew his contract with Inter, but one of his prerequisites is that he wants to work under the current management.
To tell the truth, Inter, as a Chinese-funded football club, it is still very difficult for them to survive in the current atmosphere of Italy, but Zhang Kangyang faced a lot of pressure at the beginning, and resolutely built an Inter with Italian locals as the management and Italian internationals as the backbone of the team, so in the case of greatly reducing external interference, Inter has achieved good results in competition and finance.
Finally, if Zhang Kangyang finally loses the position of Inter president due to his inability to repay the Oaktree Capital loan, it will still be very regrettable for fans, and Inter may also miss the best opportunity for revival in the past ten years because of Zhang Kangyang's departure.