Chinese Retail Giant Suning Buys Inter Milan

Another top European football club has fallen under foreign ownership.

This time it is Inter Milan, who has a new majority owner in Chinese corporation Suning Holdings Group.

The Suning Holdings Group bought 68.55 percent of Inter shares for a total of €270m, becoming the first Chinese owner of a Serie A club. This is the first purchase of a top European football club by Chinese investors.

Inter Milan is now the third foreign-owned Italian first division club, with AS Roma and Bologna already controlled by two separate groups from North America. Inter's fierce rival, AC Milan, is also on the verge of an agreement to sell a majority stake to a Chinese consortium in the coming weeks.

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The sport of football is undergoing globalization.

The popularity of the game is experiencing massive growth, especially in Asia. For Suning Commerce Group, a retail giant and a top three non state-owned company in China with over $50b in annual sales, this move seems to make sense.

Let's hope that this sale also makes sense for Inter, a struggling football giant who is looking for a way to return to its glory days. Since winning the treble in 2010 under Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan have under-performed to say the least. After being absent from UEFA competitions for some time, next season we will see Inter take part in the Europa League, after finishing 4th domestically. This was the club's best season since 2011. Can the 18 time Scudetto and three time Champions League winners return to being a top global football brand remains to be seen.




The purchase of Inter Milan comes just weeks after the English club Aston Villa was sold to a Chinese businessman for £75m.

The English Premier League club Swansea were also sold to an American group earlier today

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Source: Inter.it