November 7 – Singapore-based Finnish tech entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has said he will table a for Inter Milan over the next week.
Zilliacus, who previously tried to join the bidding for Manchester United, said $2.5 billion has been raised for the acquisition of Inter via XXI Century Capital.
“I’m serious. This week or next week at the very latest the Inter owners will receive a solid offer from me to buy the club,” said Zilliacus.
Zilliacus is cagey about where the money is coming from, except that he says it is from multiple investors.
“Who has committed to XXI Century Capital? Various identities, small and large, families and institutional investors. Arab shareholders? I won’t name names and I don’t want to go into similar details. I have raised capital in various areas, this is enough,” said Zilliacus.
Last month Inter Milan’s shareholders signed off on losses of €85 million for the 2022/23 financial year on turnover of €425 million. The figures reflect a €55 million drop in losses compared to the €140 million losses of the previous year.
The club’s majority shareholder, China’s Suning Holdings, run by Stephan Zhang, absorbed the loss with the injection of €51 million of new funds and recapitalised club with a further €86 million. The club is operating with a €275 million loan that expires next summer.
How close Zilliacus is, realistically, to getting a deal, is unclear. “I haven’t heard from (Inter president Steven) Zhang for a few months, since then I’ve been talking to the banks he trusted,” he said.
Zhang has previously had the club for sale and the recapitalising of the club dies make it a more manageable entity for any incoming buyer. However, it does not indicate that Zhang is looking for a sale.
Zilliacus said that not all of the $2.5 billion would go on the acquisition of the club and that he “would like to have operational partners who share my vision, but I want to be sure that they share my idea on how to manage the club, that they see the future as I see it.”
Little is known about Zilliacus who says he made his fortune in Asia’s tech sector.
He is the founder and chairman of privately owned tech investment group Mobile FutureWorks Inc (MFW) which it works in areas ranging from social media to online payment services, eSports, streaming video and real estate.
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