Revealed – Why PIMCO Pulled The Plug On Loan To Suning Amid Inter Milan Takeover Drama | OneFootball

PIMCO pulled the plug on a loan to Suning after learning of a clause entitling Oaktree Capital to a portion of a sale of Inter Milan.

This according to Milan-based newspaper Il Giorno, via FCInterNews.

Just one week ago, it looked as though Suning would be able to maintain control of Inter.

The outgoing Nerazzurri owners had been in talks with US-based fund PIMCO. These were with the aim of securing a €430 million loan.

Reports indicated that the negotiations between Suning and PIMCO were very far along.

The US fund was prepared to grant the loan to the Chinese company at terms that were nearly all agreed. This would have allowed Suning to refinance their debt to Oaktree.

Had Suning gotten the loan and paid back their debt to Oaktree in full, including interest, then they could have avoided the scenario now playing out – their shares in Inter passing into the hands of Oaktree.

However, Suning have defaulted on their debt to Oaktree. Yesterday was the final day in which the outgoing Inter owners could have paid back the €395 million they owed.

Therefore, Oaktree are repossessing Suning’s shares in Inter. They are becoming the new Nerazzurri owners.

Why PIMCO Pulled The Plug On Loan Talks With Suning Amid Inter Ownership Drama

The question now is, why did the negotiations between PIMCO and Suning fall through?

The loan that seemed to be on the table would have represented a solution for Suning to refinance with Oaktree.

And that was the route forward that the Chinese company decided upon.

However, Il Giorno reveal, there was one particular aspect that caused PIMCO to decide to pull out of talks at the eleventh hour.

That was a clause in the original agreement between Suning and Oaktree from the spring of 2021.

This clause entitled Oaktree to a 20% share of the final price of any sale of Inter that Suning carried out as owners.

Learning of this clause angered PIMCO. And so the US-based fund decided to pull out of the loan deal with Suning.

That left the Chinese company scrambling. They tried one final time to negotiate an extension to the deadline with Oaktree.

But by that point it was too late.