Inter will have to self-finance for months to come, given the precarious economic state of the Suning conglomerate. In a curious coincidence, they will receive an indirect assist from Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni. He is also the deputy president of the Rothschild bank, from which the Nerazzurri are about to get a €400M bond loan, La Repubblica reports.
The injection of cash will safeguard the club from Chinese turbulences next season. Inter have a longstanding relationship with the bank. They supervised the change of ownership from Massimo Moratti to Eric Thohir and also the most recent one to the Zhang family.
The Nerazzurri have been looking for partners to refinance the current bond loan that will expire at the end of 2022. The next one will likely last for five years. The operation, on top of the money coming from Oaktree and the sales of players, will guarantee the necessary liquidity in the future.
Inter closed their last balance sheet with €254.4M loss, setting a new Serie A record. Their debts ballooned up to €827M during the pandemic. The CEO Alessandro Antonello stated in the recent shareholders’ meeting: “The worst is behind us. The club has been secured.”
Scaroni was a high-profile executive before being chosen by Elliott to guide the Milan board. He chaired state-owned companies Eni and Enel for two decades. He has no direct role in the negotiation with Inter. Rothschild has gained prominence in Italian football as of late. They assisted the Friedkin family in their Roma takeover too.