Indonesian Businessman Buys 70% Stake in Football Club Inter Milan
Indonesian media tycoon Erick Thohir bought a 70 percent stake in football club Inter Milan of Italy. Thohir, one of the richest businessmen in Indonesia and who already holds large stakes in Philadelphia 76 (NBA) and DC United (Major League Soccer), paid about 300 million euro to obtain the 70 percent stake in the three-time European Champions League winner. The deal, which took months to finalize, was announced by Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti. Foreign ownership of football clubs has been a recent phenomenon in Europe.
Erick Thohir is a son of Teddy Thohir, one of the founders of the Astra Group, Indonesia's largest diversified conglomerate. In 1992, Erick Thohir founded the Mahaka Media Group together with three business partners. The Mahaka Group now owns a variety of magazines, newspapers, radio stations and one television station.
Thohir's purchase of a 70 percent stake in one of the world's largest football clubs is another sign of recent Indonesian expansion beyond its borderlines. A number of Indonesian companies and business groups have been eager to establish their names on the world stage. Some recent notable examples are Indofood Sukses Makmur which purchased stakes in Brazil and China and Semen Indonesia which bought a stake in Vietnam.