Suning acquires 70% of Inter Milan
Print Edition
CHINESE electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Co is buying nearly 70 percent of Italian soccer club Inter Milan for 270 million euros (US$307 million), in the highest-profile takeover so far of a European team by a Chinese firm.
Suning, part owned by e-commerce firm Alibaba, confirmed the deal yesterday at a joint news conference in Nanjing with Inter Milan executives, including current majority owner and President Erick Thohir.
Suning, a household name in China, already owns domestic club Jiangsu Suning, currently third in the Chinese Super League, but this is its first major overseas purchase.
“The acquisition of Inter Milan is part of Suning’s strategy in the development of the sports industry,” said Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holdings Group, which plans to subscribe to new Inter Milan shares and buy existing shares.
“This will ... help Suning to grow internationally.”
Inter Milan said Thohir would stay on as president and become the sole minority shareholder in the club, while former President Massimo Moratti will sell off his entire stake of just under 30 percent in the club.
Suning said in a separate statement that Thohir would reduce his stake to about 30 percent.
Inter Milan CEO Michael Bolingbroke said that apart from the equity stake, Suning would also take on a large portion of the loss-making club’s debt. He gave no specifics.
“The popularity of the game, particularly in Asia and China, is going through a period of massive growth,” Thohir said.
“This agreement with Suning Holdings Group will allow us to get much closer to our huge fan base in China and the Asia-Pacific region.”
Inter — which has had a lackluster season at home, finishing fourth in the Italian league — last won the European Champions League in 2010.
Yesterday’s deal tallies with President Xi Jinping’s goals for Chinese sport, which include ambitious plans to create a domestic sports industry worth US$850 billion by 2025.
Chinese investors already have minority stakes in Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and New York City FC, while smaller Spanish club Espanyol and England’s Aston Villa are Chinese-owned. Inter’s rival AC Milan is also in talks to sell a majority stake to Chinese investors.
Suning is also amongst the frontrunners to buy UK-based Stellar Group, one of the world’s leading soccer agencies.
The company has said it wants to create a global sporting “ecosystem,” including club ownership, sports media rights, player agencies, training institutions, broadcast platforms, content production and sports-related e-commerce.
Suning, which has annual revenues of US$20 billion, already has some blocks in place. Its local club has bought players such as Brazil’s Alex Teixeira and former Chelsea midfielder Ramires.
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