Inter Milan’s owners, Suning, are temporarily applying to refinance their debt with Oaktree Capital with a new loan from a British fund.
This is reported in today’s print edition of the Milanese newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, FCInterNews.
The maturity date of Suning’s loan from U. S. fund Oaktree Capital is fast approaching.
Inter’s owners will have to find a way to refinance the roughly €375 they owe Oaktree (the original loan of €275 million plus interest) until the 20th of next month.
Suning has been applying tactics to avoid defaulting on the loan and thus Inter’s permanence.
One of them negotiated with Oaktree until the deadline.
However, as La Gazzetta reports, Suning is willing to pursue a path of choice.
In parallel with its negotiations with Oaktree, Suning is also considering the option of refinancing the debt with a new loan.
And according to La Gazzetta, the Nerazzurri are on the verge of accepting such a loan.
Suning has discovered an anonymous fund discovered in the UK, willing to accept a new loan on more favourable terms than any extension presented through Oaktree.
Oaktree only filed extensions of 12 to 24 months. They would also see the interest rate sharply from 12% of the original loan starting in 2021.
However, La Gazzetta anticipates, the anonymous British fund has presented Suning with a new three-year loan.
The loan would amount to about 400 million euros, allowing Suning to pay off its debt to Oaktree in full before next month’s maturity date.
The interest rate would be well above 12%.
Suning has not yet closed its deal with the anonymous fund, but La Gazzetta reports that a deal is close.
And it has to be that way. Suning is just weeks away from the deadline for the Oaktree loan.
It looked like a vital crossroads in terms of the long duration of Inter’s ownership.
However, Suning could simply default and see his Inter shares pass into the hands of Oaktree if he manages to agree a loan to refinance it.
In the meantime, as reported by La Gazzetta, Suning continues to explore the market in search of a minority investment in Inter or an outright client for the club.
U. S. banks Goldman Sachs and Raine Group are coordinating the investigation.
However, despite persistent rumours, the most recent of which is Saudi interest, there are currently no concrete candidates to take charge of the Nerazzurri.
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