The takeover of US investment fund Oaktree Capital – which owns Italian soccer heavyweights Inter Milan – by Canadian investment management group Brookfield has been completed.
Oaktree took control of Inter in May 2024, following non-repayment of the firm's three-year loan to the club's previous owners, China's Suning Group.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
At that point, Brookfield controlled 62% of Oaktree – it has now purchased the 26% that was still controlled by the Inter owners.
It has been reported by Italian media that Brookfield has paid $3 billion for that 26% – valuing Oaktree, in its entirety, at around $11.5 billion.
Connor Teskey, Brookfield Asset Management's chief executive, commented: "The addition of the Oaktree brand has further strengthened our ability to invest across market cycles and diverse opportunities, enhanced by Oaktree's history and investment assessment capabilities. We look forward to building on this strong history and the team's deep expertise as we continue to grow our global credit business."
Inter won last season's Serie A, having finished second in the 20-team league in 2024-25.
They also reached the final of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, before losing to French heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain.
Howard Marks, the chair of Brookfield's Investment Solutions Group, will now serve as co-chair at Oaktree, while the other co-chair will be Bruce Karsh.
Brookfield and Oaktree have been steadily moving closer together since 2019, well before the latter investment group took control of Inter Milan.
It has also been reported in recent days that Oaktree and Brookfield are now assessing the possibility of selling Inter entirely, with the club having dramatically improved its finances in recent years, since facing a crisis on this front around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of recent Inter activity, last week, the Milanese giants announced a new commercial partnership with Spanish bank BBVA, which will serve as the club’s official sleeve sponsor.
Under the agreement, BBVA will feature on the sleeves of Inter Milan’s men’s and women’s first teams, the Under-23 and Under-20 squads, as well as Inter Legends.
