Thohir plans to bring in a new partner at Inter to make up for €417 million debt
Inter are in big financial trouble. Today’s Gazzetta dello Sport has the story: the Beneamata has debts amounting to €417 million, at least up to the end of June 2015. Having bought Inter and injected €75 million into the club’s coffers for 70% of its shares, the Indonesian magnate now finds himself a creditor of the club (to which he has loaned €108 million). Inter themselves owe €230 million to Goldman Sachs, 11 to other clubs and 68 to their suppliers.
This is a big dose of bad news for a club whose yearly turnover is in the region of €200 million, and whose assets are pretty much in the hands of the banks. Last year, the Nerazzurri decided to frontload a lot of their outgoings into the 2014-2015 excercise, resulting in a loss of €140 million. Inter have also brought in a number of players on loan with buyback clauses, meaning that they would need to dish out more if they intend to keep them, with a notable example being Adem Ljajic.
This explains why Erick Thohir is looking for a partner, someone who despite being a minority owner would still be given a certain presence on the board, more than what would be warranted by the share that is acquired. Goldman Sachs have been charged with the search for someone who could inject some much-needed cash into the club’s coffers. “We need to make the most of China’s potential, which is why I’ve asked GS to look for partners. Then again, the search isn’t limited to China”. Part of the deal would be to offer the partner the chance to eventually acquire the club.
Thohir will land in Milan on Saturday, and is set to spend two weeks around the continent, and one of his objectives is to find a potential partner. He intends to visit London and Frankfurt.
Any partner will want to talk about the club’s plans to renovate the Pinetina training facility, though the whole San Siro project is stuck in the mire right now, with Milan pulling out and the local municipal elections putting a spanner in the spokes.
We’re unsure as to whether former owner Massimo Moratti will inject liquidity himself, or whether he will decrease his involvement with the club. He’s pushed the club to renew with Pirelli, seeing as the company is a historical partner, and run by a close friend, Marco Tronchetti Provera.
Thohir also plans to talk to Roberto Mancini, as well as new General Manager Giovanni Gardini (who should arrive after February 20th), as well as Senior Advisor Nicola Volpi, Michael Williamson and Michael Bolingbroke.
He’ll be particularly interested by the whole Etihad gaffe, in which Inter were close to being conned by a fraudster posing as the Middle Eastern giant.
