FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Inter Milan v Hellas Verona - San Siro, Milan, Italy - April 25, 2021 General view of a steward in the stand before the match REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
MILAN: Italian champions Inter Milan are close to securing 275 million euros ($336 million) in financing under a deal that will hand a minority stake to U.S. investment firm Oaktree Capital Group, two sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.
Chinese-owned Inter, this month crowned Serie A champions for the first time in 11 years, are suffering like rivals due to the hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and had been discussing an agreement to shore up the club's finances.
The two sources said Oaktree was set to buy a 31.5% stake currently held by LionRock Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm. Chinese retail giant Suning would retain control with its 68.5% holding.
A third source said Tom Pitts, LionRock's head of Europe, would step down from Inter Milan's board of directors.
Oaktree, Lionrock and Suning all declined to comment. ($1 = 0.8194 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin and Elvira Pollina, writing by Maria Pia Quaglia; editing by Valentina Za and Keith Weir)
