Earlier this month, Inter won their 19th Scudetto title and their first Serie A triumph since 2010. It's been a long time coming for the Nerazzurri, who've had to watch Juventus reign unchallenged as the champions of Italy, and now, many have wondered if Inter's win symbolizes a potential changing of the guard in Italian football's top flight.
However, despite the celebrations, there are still major concerns, namely financial. Inter's woes have widespread rumors that the Nerazzurri could be forced to part ways with several key players, including top goal-scorer Romelu Lukaku if they can't find a way to balance the books. COVID-19 hasn't helped, especially with the club's owners, Chinese conglomerate Suning, taking a huge hit financially back home. In addition, the Nerazzurri ended up posting losses of over €100 million during the 2019/2020 season as the global pandemic forced stadiums to shut down, thus affecting gameday revenue and other factors.
So, just like other clubs facing mounting debts, such as Barcelona, Inter have had to turn to American financial companies to seek help. But whereas Barcelona decided to go to Goldman Sachs, a name that's familiar with pretty much everyone whether they know anything about financial services or not, the Nerazzurri have opted to go with Oaktree Capital - which isn't probably a household name for most people.
According to Reuters and other sources, Oaktree have reportedly agreed to lend €275 million ($336 million) to an entity called Great Horizon. Great Horizon is a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle via which Suning controls the club, and in return Inter will give Oaktree shares as a form of collateral.
In addition, Oaktree will also get at least one seat on Inter's board of directors plus a 31 per cent stake in LionRock Capital, which is a Hong Kong-based investment firm associated with the club.
Quite similar to the Goldman-Barcelona arrangement, Oaktree and Inter are quite familiar to each other. The Los Angeles-based investment firm already holds a significant share in a €375 million ($458 million) bond that will expire in 2022.
