Inter de Limeira, a Brazilian club competing in the third tier of Brazilian football, approved the sale of its newly created football corporation, known in Brazil as a SAF, to a group of investors that includes Brazilian football legends Ronaldo Nazario and Roberto Carlos, the club confirmed on Monday.
Saudi prince Abdullah bin Saad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is also part of the investment group, according to the club.
The leading figure in the deal is Enrico Ambrogini, who served as director of operations during Cruzeiro's promotion campaign from Brazil's Serie B to Serie A, a period when Ronaldo himself owned Cruzeiro's SAF. Ambrogini has also held positions at Inter de Limeira, Sport Recife and Real Valladolid.
Under the terms of the agreement, the investors will hold 80% of the shares in the new company, while Inter de Limeira retains the remaining 20%. In the short term, the club's main objective is to secure promotion from Serie C to Serie B of the Brazilian championship.
The club, nicknamed Leao da Paulista, is based in Limeira, in the interior of Sao Paulo state, and has already secured a place in the promotion quadrangular of Serie C. It sits in Group B alongside Ferroviaria, Paysandu and Brusque. Two of the four clubs in the group will move up a division, and the group's leader will additionally advance to the final. Inter de Limeira opens the group stage on Saturday, September 5, at 5pm local time at the Limeirao stadium in Limeira against Ferroviaria.
What is a SAF?
A SAF, or Sociedade Anonima do Futebol, is a corporate structure created under Brazilian law that allows a football club to convert its football department into a company and sell shares to outside investors, while keeping the traditional membership-run association in charge of the club's other activities. The model was designed to bring private capital into Brazilian football, and clubs including Cruzeiro, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama have already adopted it.
How the deal was approved
According to an official statement from the Associacao Atletica Internacional, the club's governing body, the sale was approved at an Extraordinary General Assembly held on Monday, August 31, attended by 54 council members who reviewed and voted on what the statement described as one of the most important decisions in the club's history.
The approval is the result of a process that began in 2023 with the creation of the club's SAF Commission, which carried out studies, analyses, meetings and negotiations involving different proposals and models, the statement said.
The current operation began taking shape on December 22, 2025, when Ambrogini presented a new proposal. On March 31, 2026, the club approved the continuation of negotiations, and on May 12 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed setting out the basis for the deal. In the months since, the proposal went through further meetings, analysis and refinement involving the club's internal bodies, the proponent, potential investors and specialist advisers, according to the statement.
Board review and legal advice
During Monday's assembly, the club's Deliberative Council, SAF Commission and Fiscal Council all presented favorable opinions on the operation, the statement said.
The SAF Commission, which had tracked the process since 2023, based its assessment on the work carried out, the negotiations held, the technical and legal studies produced, and the improvements made to the proposal.
Inter de Limeira also worked with Sports Value, a firm responsible for economic, financial and market analysis, and with the law firm Monteiro Castro Setoguti Advogados, which provided specialist legal advice throughout the structuring and negotiation of the deal, according to the club.
A new chapter
The approved resolution provides for the creation of the SAF of the Associacao Atletica Internacional de Limeira and the sale of 80% of its shares to the investor group, with the Associacao retaining 20%, in line with the terms submitted to the club's governing bodies.
The club said the approval closes an important stage of studies, debate and negotiation and marks the start of a new phase in the history of the Associacao Atletica Internacional de Limeira. The process, it said, was aimed at building a structure offering greater legal security, governance, sustainability and protection for the club's institutional, sporting and financial interests.
The club, which traces its history back more than a century, said in its statement that a new chapter begins as of the assembly's approval.
