Barely months after purchasing an 80% equity in the Premier League’s Newcastle United for $409 million, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is reportedly nearing a purchase of Serie A’s Inter Milan for $1 billion.
Rumors of the club’s sale to the PIF have been swirling since March 2021 with the deal expected to be announced in the coming days.
Suning Holdings Group have a 70% stake in the team since 2016, but the owners have searched for an additional investor since 2019 as, despite winning the domestic title in 2020, the club lost roughly $285 million in the 2020-21 financial year and continuing to lose $15 million each month.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund manages over $430 billion in assets.
The PIF’s purchase of Newcastle United was greeted with harsh criticism from other Premier League teams over concerns about the Saudi government’s involvement as the PIF is run by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
However, the Premier League opted to rule that the PIF is separate from the Saudi government with teams voting last week that any sponsorship deal worth more than $1.3 million will now have to be submitted for review.
Obviously still in pursuit of their intent to have multi-clubs ownership, the PIF is also allegedly in talks with Ligue 1’s Marseille and a Brazilian club and was named the Saudi International’s new title sponsor on Monday.