Revealed – How Oaktree Capital & Suning Could Avoid Legal Battle Over Inter Milan | OneFootball

Oaktree Capital and Suning could come to an agreement that would avoid messy legal battles concerning the change of Inter Milan ownership.

Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, via FCInterNews, report that the US-based fund could pay the current Nerazzurri owners a high compensation for the transfer of their shares in the club.

Barring any genuine late shocks, Oaktree will take over Inter from Suning very soon.

Starting this week, the US fund will have the right to enforce an agreement to repossess the Chinese company’s shares in the Nerazzurri.

This will be the result of Suning defaulting on a loan from Oaktree in the spring of 2021.

However, there is the looming threat of this process becoming quite messy.

Lawsuits and courtroom drama would in particular add complications and an air of acrimony to the transition from one owner to another.

Inter President Steven Zhang seemed to hint at that in a recent statement.

The President referred to “legal threats” and a lack of cooperation on the part of Oaktree in Suning’s efforts to refinance their debt.

Zhang’s statement was vague. But the Inter President was certainly hinting at the possibility that Oaktree were obstructing Suning, perhaps even illegally.

How Oaktree Capital & Suning Could Avoid Legal Battle Over Inter

Suning may feel that lawsuits are their only recourse if they default on their debt and Oaktree take over.

What the outcome of such cases would be is uncertain.

But what is clear is that these types of lawsuits would drag on and add a toxic element to the atmosphere around Inter.

But the Gazzetta suggest that there is one course of action that could nip a legal battle in the bud.

One way or another, Oaktree will pay Suning compensation for their shares in Inter.

That is part of the agreement from the spring of 2021.

However, it is not yet defined exactly how much the US fund will pay the Chinese company.

An independent appraiser could set the market value for Inter. Then, Oaktree would pay that amount to Suning as compensation – minus, of course, Suning’s debt.

But if Oaktree were to offer particularly generous compensation to Suning, then this could be a gesture of fairness that would keep the Chinese company reasonably happy in the situation.

That could be incentive enough for the current and likely soon-to-be-former Inter owners not to start launching lawsuits.