Finnish Tycoon Sets Sights on Inter, Recruits Investors

Finnish billionaire and philanthropist Thomas Zilliacus doesn’t hide passion for Inter, and he has reached out to other moguls to help his bid to take over the club. He recently tweeted to Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, who just pulled out of the race to acquire Manchester United.

Per Calciomercato, despite the interest coming also from Investcorp, Steven Zhang is working on ways to refinance a massive loan from Oaktree. He’ll contemplate selling the team or perhaps handing it directly to the fund only if he’s unsuccessful. He has a few more months to come to a decision since the expiration date is May 2024.

Other than clearly being a fan, Zilliacus took concrete steps toward buying Inter in the past. He met the current owner to inquire, but things didn’t progress much. Suning was firmly in control at the time. The Chinese conglomerate would eventually want more than €1B for the Nerazzurri. They turned down €800M from BC Partners two years ago.

As a sign of his intentions, Zhang is keeping a long-term view. The club recently started the bureaucratic procedure to build a stadium in Rozzano. Their corporate CEO Alessandro Antonello stated they’d pick the fastest project between that and San Siro.

Zilliacus further disclosed his intentions about Inter in another tweet.

“Zhang and Suning turned the team into a formidable force. The next owner should make them an impregnable fortress.”