⁍ Two private equity groups have revised their final bids to Italy’s top-flight soccer league.
⁍ They are vying to secure a slice of Serie A’s lucrative broadcasting rights business.
⁍ The two offers will be reviewed by Serie A club presidents on Oct. 13.
– The battle for Italy’s top soccer league is shaping up to be a fight between two private equity groups. Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are competing to buy a 10% stake in the league’s media rights company for $528 million, sources tell Reuters. Both offers will be reviewed by Serie A club presidents on Oct. 13, after an initial Oct. 9 deadline was postponed. The delay comes as Serie A President Paolo del Pino—who strongly supported a plan to monetize the league’s broadcasting rights and shore up the clubs’ finances—tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. The league declined to comment on the offers. A consortium led by Bain Capital has ditched a previous equity investment plan and replaced it with a partnership proposal, the sources said. A rival bidding group led by CVC Capital Partners is sticking with an initial plan to buy 10% of Serie A’s media rights company but has presented two alternative offers to win over some of the most reluctant clubs, the sources said. Under Bain’s proposal, the US buyout fund will make an upfront payment of $528.62 million to Serie A clubs and will then take 10% of their annual broadcasting rights revenues for the next 10 years, provided that such revenues exceed a minimum threshold, one of the sources said. ‘Despite their official line, most clubs are reluctant to strike an equity deal,’ the source added.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/serie-a-private-equity-ma/soccer-bain-and-cvc-revise-serie-a-bids-as-clubs-delay-decision-sources-idUSL8N2GX5WA