Finnish businessman Zilliacus pulls out of Inter Milan race

Lawyers representing Zilliacus’ investment firm said in a statement it had “stopped the process” of trying to buy Italy’s Serie A leader, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Suning.

Inter attracted interest from potential investors last year, but Suning denied at the time that any deal was in the works, and nothing materialised. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus said on Thursday he had dropped out of the running to buy Inter Milan to focus on clearing his name after police in Singapore issued a warrant for his arrest last week.

Lawyers representing Zilliacus’ investment firm said in a statement it had “stopped the process” of trying to buy Italy’s Serie A leader, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Suning.

“Thomas Zilliacus instead will focus on clearing his name from the false and malicious accusations that over the last few days have surfaced from sources in Singapore,” they added.

Inter attracted interest from potential investors last year, but Suning denied at the time that any deal was in the works, and nothing materialised.

Singapore police issued arrest warrants for Zilliacus, a former CEO of Singaporean e-commerce firm Yuuzoo, and four other former Yuuzoo executives over alleged “misleading statements in the company’s financial reports”.

Zilliacus told  Reuters he had been cooperating with police in Singapore since investigations started in 2018 and described the arrest warrant as “incomprehensible”.

A former Asia head of the technology company Nokia, Zilliacus last year pursued a potential deal for English football club Manchester United, before dropping out.