Three years ago, when Zhang Kangyang, the chairman of Inter Milan, received a financing of 275 million yuan from American Oak Group, it was hard to imagine that he would lose this century old club with a valuation of 1.2 billion euros, a new Italian champion, because of this seemingly normal financing. All this could happen in a day.
According to the summary of reports from Italian local football media and major financial media, Oak Group achieved the goal of "fighting big with small" and achieved the victory of this "financial secret war" through the ingenious layout of one year and three stages.
The first stage: paralyze Suning and Zhang's family with the strategy of slowing down the army.
In fact, as early as half a year ago, Zhang Kangyang tried to postpone the payment of the loan by raising the interest rate because the financing was about to expire. The plan given by Suning and Zhang's family is to repay the interest of 100 million euros first, and then extend the period of 275 million euros for three years, increasing the annual interest from 12% to 15%.
At that time, the Italian media revealed that Oak Group accepted the proposal and signed a new financing agreement with Zhangjia when the loan was due.
Italian media believe that it is because Inter Milan has gradually turned from deficit to profit in the past three years, showing strong profitability in the future, so they agree. Nobody expected that this would be a slow move.
In the second stage, sudden difficulties and refusal to postpone
In March this year, when Inter Milan won first and then lost in the Champions League 1/8, they were unexpectedly eliminated by Atletico Madrid. Oak Group suddenly said that it would not consider the proposal to extend the loan, and hoped Suning and Zhang's family would find a new way to repay the loan as soon as possible, otherwise they would take the control of Inter Milan when the repayment deadline came.
At that time, most media believed that it was because Inter Milan were out of the Champions League and were expected to turn losses into profits in the 23-24 season. It was feared that the new sponsorship would come into effect in the 24-25 season, so Oak Group changed its mind.
At this time, the loan repayment date of Suning Zhang's family is less than two months away. Zhang Kangyang originally planned to return to Inter Milan in April to participate in the city tour of the team's championship in advance, but was also forced to cancel because of financing problems.
In the third stage, we will try our best to kill everything
At the end of April and the beginning of May, through the efforts of Zhang's family, we found two new financial institutions interested in financing. According to media reports, after careful consideration, Zhang's family finally chose PIMCO Pacific Investment, a financial institution with more than $1 trillion in assets under management, and the shareholder behind it is the German financial giant Allianz Group.
After solving the financing problem, Zhang Kangyang, the chairman of Inter Milan, was obviously in good spirits. Although he missed attending the city tour celebration of the 20th championship of Inter Milan, he did not expect to have a video chat with the players, send gifts, or even open a personal live broadcast on the dithering platform with great interest. At the same time, he also attended the F1 Grand Prix held in Shanghai and took a group photo with Gu Ailing and other celebrities.
No one expected that on the last two days before the loan repayment date, all the major financial media and Italian football media suddenly reported that Oak Group used legal terms to block the financing of Suning and Zhang's family. On May 20, Italy time, Inter Milan would change its ownership and Oak Group would officially take the lead.
When the melon eaters were still dubious, Zhang Kangyang also issued a personal statement in the social media, in which he denounced Oak Group for using legal means to prevent him from obtaining financing. At the same time, he said that even in the last lesson, he would maintain the tradition and glory of Inter Milan and fight for the ownership of the club to the last moment.
This declaration is undoubtedly based on the Italian media.
From the perspective of the process, Oak Group can be said to have fully demonstrated to domestic fans what the financial capital war is. In the whole process, it first used the strategy of slowing down the war to squeeze the time for Suning and Zhang's family to find funds.
Then, while watching the Zhang family looking for funds everywhere, they held the legal loophole in the original contract in their hands and held still until two days before the transaction deadline, they informed the Zhang family that it was invalid for them to seek financing outside because of violations.
The Italian media reported that the so-called violation means that the Zhang family has given the shares of Inter Milan as collateral to Oak Group, so if they still pledge the assets of Inter Milan in their own hands, it is equivalent to one thing and two mortgages, and Oak Group has the right to refuse the new financing agreement.
There is an old saying about financial fraud. What you see is interest, but what people really want is principal.
In fact, the equity pledged by Suning Zhangjia is probably only 40% - 60%. According to the valuation of 1.2 billion Euros by Inter Milan, they can indeed raise funds, but Oak Group knows more about the loopholes in the law than they do, and will use more favorable terms, so it blocked this financing.
With a loan of 275 million Euros, they got an interest of 100 million Euros. If the sale of Inter Milan is successful, they can also get a commission of 100 million Euros to 200 million Euros.
To put it bluntly, Oak Group did not want Suning to make a successful repayment from beginning to end. They worked hard to delay the repayment until the end before they came up with a killer weapon. What they wanted was Suning to be out of the game, and they would take control of selling to Inter. They would also take control of the price.
As for whether they have any other transactions with the new buyers of Inter Milan besides the commission, it is unknown to outsiders.
As the world's largest financial power, the United States Oak Group has given the young Suning Zhang family a financial lesson worth hundreds of millions of dollars in three years and three layouts.
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