Perhaps those who suspect that the demon of inflation is about to reawaken are not wrong. The Financial Times reveals today that the Suning group, owner of Inter has started several negotiations under the direction of Goldman Sachs to sell the stake in "Nerazzurri", the company that has control of the majority stake in Inter on the basis of a valuation of 900 million euros. It is not clear whether the offer concerns the entire share or only the 68,5% controlled by the group in the hands of the household appliance tycoon or also the 31,5% in the hands of LionRock of Hong Kong.
It is certainly known that Suning, under pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (or even problems related to the group's non-industrial holdings) has tightened the taps, to the point that the team complains about salary delays: the two unpaid in 2020 risk adding two more. Hence the feeling of the FT that the negotiation entered into by the private BC Partners and the Scandinavian Eqt can materialize in a few weeks. In this case, Milanese football, the most coveted by investors due to the possibility of entering the negotiation for the new stadium (i.e. for the most important real estate investment in the metropolis, an estimated value of 1,3 billion euros), will all end up in the hands of operators international finance.
Meanwhile, notes the City newspaper, the transfer of commercial rights in Serie A seems well underway to the CVS fund and to Avent International, a 1,6 billion dollar operation, destined to change the balance between sponsors and the federation. The same as what is happening in Germany and Spain where the Bundesliga and Liga deal with similar operations while the French Ligue 1, after the failure of the deal attempted in the summer with Mediapro, is begging for any contract to avoid bankruptcy.
In reality, the pandemic has put everyone on the ropes a bit, thanks to the loss of box office revenue and the collapse of merchandising. Andrea Agnelli himself, who follows the reform of the system on behalf of the most important European clubs, has recently returned to office claiming a more relevant role for professionals in the sector precisely to avoid a sort of collective default.
Compounding the situation is the China's turnaround. Until a year ago Beijing, also due to the push of President Xi Jingping, considered a great fan, had expressed intentions of expansion in the world of football, also in view of the World Cup which seemed destined to land in the Celestial Empire after the Qatar edition . But something has changed as demonstrated not only by Suning's retreat (apparently imposed by the top management) but also by the collapse of sponsorships which is pushing players enticed by fabulous contracts to pack up and go back.
It's more a turning point for the system than a passing crisis. Woe to those who do not take the appropriate countermeasures in time.
