February 29, (THEWILL) – A Finnish businessman, Thomas Zilliacus, has ended his bid to purchase Italian football club Inter Milan to focus on clearing his name, his lawyers said on Thursday. The 67-year-old was pursuing a deal to buy Serie A leaders Inter from current Chinese owners Suning.
However, his investment firm has now “stopped the process” in light of an arrest warrant issued against Mr Zilliacus by police in Singapore last week. The warrant relates to allegations of publishing “misleading statements” in financial reports during his time as CEO of the Singaporean e-commerce company Yuuzoo.
Four other former Yuuzoo executives have also been named. Mr Zilliacus maintains he has cooperated fully with Singapore police since investigations began in 2018. He described the surprise arrest warrant as “incomprehensible.”
Inter Milan attracted interest from several potential investors last year. However, owners Suning denied any deal was in progress at the time and no sale materialised. Separately, Mr Zilliacus pursued buying English club Manchester United in 2022 before ending his interest. The Finnish national is a former Asia head of technology company Nokia.
Lawyers representing the 67-year-old businessman said he “will focus on clearing his name from the false and malicious accusations” that have recently emerged from Singapore. The arrest warrant relates to Mr Zilliacus’ time running Yuuzoo before 2018.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
