GdS: ‘The American dream’ – where Milan and Inter’s owners differ and what unites them

SempreMilan

·2 avril 2025

GdS: ‘The American dream’ – where Milan and Inter’s owners differ and what unites them

AC Milan and Inter’s American ownerships will be on opposite sides tonight in the derby, but there is plenty that unites them.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (as seen below) writes that not all American owners are the same, just look at the vast sample of Serie A. Investment funds are not all the same either: just look at the Milan derby with RedBird Capital and Oaktree Capital.

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The two funds differ not only in terms of assets under management, strategies and business sectors, but also in terms of the role they play in football. Both are 100% owners, or thereabouts, of Milan and Inter respectively, but with a difference.

RedBird borrowed the money from the seller (Elliott Management) to complete the €1.2bn acquisition in 2022 and are still exposed for €489m as capital, after having repaid €170m and extended the deadline to July 2028.

Oaktree lent the money to the old owner (Steven Zhang of Suning) and, faced with the failure to repay €275m plus interest, called in the pledge by acquiring the Nerazzurri shares. All of this affects the way they run the club, and what the future holds.

Governance

The Rossoneri ownership cannot avoid being subjected to the watchful eye of the lender who, as a guarantee of exposure, boasts the pledge on Milan’s shares and (not by chance) have placed two of its representatives on the board of directors, one of whom (Gordon Singer) is particularly listened to.

Gerry Cardinale has chosen managerial continuity by appointing two former Elliott executives – Giorgio Furlani and Stefano Cocirio – as CEO and CFO. Thus, there are more than a few cooks overseeing the broth.

The Nerazzurri ownership do not have to answer to anyone, have no deadlines imposed by third parties and can manage the asset enhancement plan over a medium-long term horizon, clearly with the aim of extracting the maximum possible from Inter.

RedBird and Oaktree, however, pursue the same goal: to take the Milanese clubs to a higher level, in order to obtain a return on investment. The former boasts expertise in sports, media and entertainment and is working on this combination to increase Milan’s revenues.

The latter are specialised in the ‘stressed-distressed’ area and knows well how to make management sustainable, essentially taking over organisations in crisis, steadying them and then making their money when they sell on a more attractive package.

Stadium

The common point is the San Siro project: a proposal has been presented that includes costs of €1.25bn for the construction of a new 71,500-seat facility, the partial demolition of the current stadium and the redevelopment of the area.

Obstacles, including investigations, committees and bureaucracy, are abound. In the meantime, the paths of the two clubs are diverging, with the accounts in hand.

Milan have come off two consecutive profits (€+6m and €+4m), this year it expects ‘a small profit or a small loss’, but in 2025-26 it will have to do without the Champions League. The Rossoneri, however, have a significant advantage: zero bank debt, apart from credit advances.

Inter reduced its losses to €-36m in 2023-24, this year it is licking their lips at the rich prize money and seeing the finish line of breaking even. Inter, on the other hand, have to deal with a €415m bond that weighs in interest at €30m per year. A first move was the repurchase of a portion of €15m.