SINGAPORE – With his Singapore-registered investment company XXI Century Capital, Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus believes he has what it takes to gain control of Serie A giants Inter Milan and turn them into “the best club in the world”.

The Singapore permanent resident, 67, told The Sunday Times he had submitted a formal offer to Inter in November and the ball is now in the court of owners Suning Holdings Group, whom he welcomes to remain as minority shareholders if he is successful in his bid.

He said XXI Century Capital has raised US$2.5 billion (S$3.35 billion) from investors for various projects, including the Inter bid. The club’s estimated value is reportedly around US$1.2 billion, which is the price Redbird Capital Partners paid to buy AC Milan in August 2022.

Zilliacus, who made a bid for Manchester United in March, felt there is a lot of untapped potential in Inter, who won the 2020-2021 Serie A and were last season’s Champions League runners-up.

He said: “Inter Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world when it comes to the fan base, with over 500 million supporters worldwide. There are only a handful of clubs that have more fans than that.

“If there are 500 million people who would like to be in San Siro watching a game, but cannot, then I think there is a tremendous opportunity in developing services that enable these people to participate as if they were there.”

The former Nokia South-east Asia chief executive officer added that his background equips him with knowledge on how technology can be used to “develop interesting things that were not possible before”.

“This is why it’s very interesting for me to bid for certain clubs with a large fan base because I know how to generate significant new revenue that doesn’t exist today,” he added.

While bidding for United, Zilliacus proposed giving fans a say on major issues such as potential redevelopment of Old Trafford and squad building, but not team selection. Supporters would be offered the chance to buy shares and an all-access passport to visit the club from afar via virtual reality.

He also noted the room for growth in Serie A’s international TV rights valuation. According to Reuters, Italy’s top tier secured around €700 million (S$1.02 billion) from the sale of overseas TV rights for the 2021-2024 period, which is a ninth of that earned by the English Premier League.

Zilliacus said: “That doesn’t make any sense. Italian football is as good, if not better than English football. So, it’s about packaging it in an attractive way which I think that Italy, with all due respect, has not been very good at doing so. That is relatively easy to change and, when that is done, Italian football TV rights can significantly increase in value.”

Another area for improvement the former Geylang International manager is eyeing is Inter’s new stadium in Rozzano, which will hold 70,000 people and should be ready in 2028.

He said: “I was an owner of former Finnish ice hockey champions Jokerit when we built a new stadium in Finland, so I know how stadiums can significantly increase revenues.

“San Siro is very old and doesn’t have a lot of hospitality suites, which the new stadium can change completely.

“It can also be a venue for a lot of other events like concerts, competitions and fairs, and you can also build other things around it. I believe that, by generating new revenue, we can make Inter Milan the best club in the world.”

Zilliacus also opened up about his United bid withdrawal in April, calling the process a farce.

He said: “I don’t quite understand why they even started the whole process when, in the end, they didn’t want to sell off the club even though, based on public information, it seems that they got the kind of valuation that they wanted.

“From public information, it looks like Jim Ratcliffe is going to take a minority stake in United and run the sporting side while the Glazers will still be the majority shareholders.

“That makes sense because he is already one of the wealthiest men in England. The sporting side to him is very important and he doesn’t need to make more money, so he focuses on sport and the Glazers benefit from any value increment.

“But I’m not interested in becoming a minority shareholder because I believe I can make the club bigger.”

Zilliacus has better vibes about Inter, however, as Suning’s Chinese owners, the Zhang family, have turned the club around since their takeover in 2016.

In 2019, they recorded the biggest enterprise value growth among European clubs, as it rose over 41 per cent to €692 million. The 19-time Serie A champions also reduced their losses from €140 million in 2021-2022 to €85 million last season.

Zilliacus said: “I really respect the Zhang family, and I want to make sure if they want to sell, it is in a way that they are happy with.

“I am very happy if they want to stay on with me because there is a very big fan base in China and having a Chinese shareholder is a good thing for the club.

“This is not a question of buying a trophy. This is a question of getting into a business where I am certain we can provide very good returns. Therefore, I’m more than happy to discuss shared ownership and I’m open to all possibilities.”