Serie A revives €1.7bn private equity investment talks

Sep 6, 2021 | ITPEC, News

Serie A has revived plans to sell a €1.7bn stake in the Italian top flight soccer league’s new media rights business, according to Bloomberg.

Serie A had appeared on the verge of selling a 10% share in the new company since last November, after the league’s clubs accepted an offer from a private equity consortium led by CVC Capital Partners.

The league had been in exclusive negotiations since October 2020 with CVC. Advent International and state-backed Italian fund FSI were also part of the proposed deal.

However, the acquisition appeared close to collapse in February this year, with Reuters reporting that seven Serie A clubs – including heavy hitters Juventus, Inter Milan and Lazio – were set to block the investment. The teams purportedly no longer regarded the deal as ‘viable’.

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Now, according to Bloomberg, Serie A is expected to ‘informally restart talks’. The report added that discussions also involve a credit line of about €1.2bn.

In a separate report from Milano Finanza, the news outlet stated that CVC was out of contention, with Advent prepared to take on greater financial responsibility alongside FSI.

According to Sky News back in February, the consortium had written to the 20 Serie A clubs expressing its frustration with the delay in sign-off for the deal. The group reportedly warned it would withdraw unless the offer was ratified immediately.

Since then, CVC has turned its attention to investment in Spanish soccer’s La Liga. Last month, the firm edged closer to a deal after its offer was approved by 38 of the 42 clubs across Spain’s top two soccer divisions.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and one other unnamed club were among those who voted against the proposal, which would see CVC invest between €2.1bn and €2.2bn for a ten per cent stake in a new company comprising all of La Liga’s businesses, subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Source: Sports Media Pro

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