CVC, Blackstone, and EQT are among the private equity groups that submitted bids for a stake in the media rights business of the Bundesliga — Germany’s main football competition.
(Bloomberg) — CVC, Blackstone, and EQT are among the private equity groups that submitted bids for a stake in the media rights business of the Bundesliga — Germany’s main football competition.
The three private equity firms, as well as KKR and Advent International, are bidding for a 12.5% stake, according to sources familiar with the process who asked not to be identified. The unit will manage the domestic and international broadcasting rights of the top 36 professional football teams in the country, including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The investors were asked to bid for 20 to 30 years of rights, two of the people said.
The governing body of Germany’s professional football league, Deutsche Fussball Liga GmbH, met Tuesday to discuss the offers, some of the people said. Spokespeople for CVC, Blackstone, EQT, KKR, and Advent declined to comment. Bundesliga confirmed that its executive committee would now examine the bids, but declined to say more.
DFL abandoned an earlier process to attract private equity investment after opposition from fans and teams. Fan groups participated in a protest against the Bundesliga’s private equity plan earlier this month. The earlier plan weighed selling as much as 20% of the media unit, then valued at about €18 billion ($19.6 billion), Bloomberg News reported last year.
The new attempt — which asked for bids by Monday — aims to forge a financial partnership that will bridge some of the gap in fees between Bundesliga and the UK’s Premier League.
CVC has agreed to similar deals with Ligue 1 in France and La Liga in Spain. Blackstone has more than €17 billion invested in Germany and has experience in sports rights through its investment in YES Network, a US pay-TV channel broadcasting sports including the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.
EQT has a network of advisers that includes Michael Bolingbroke, a former CEO at Inter Milan and Thomas Ebeling, former CEO of the German media company ProSiebenSat.1.
The German football broadcast business was described in a recent report by Enders Analysis as a ‘lagging market’ with overall revenue down 7% for the 2021-25 cycle compared with the previous one. An obligation to offer extensive game highlights free to local broadcasters was cited by Enders as one issue undermining its paid subscriptions domestically. Its international TV revenues are also behind rivals like the Premier League, La Liga and Champions league.
After reporting revenues still trailing pre-pandemic levels by €325 million, Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO of Borussia Dortmund and a DFL executive, said earlier this month that the Bundesliga needs to be more competitive.
“The league and clubs are going to have to find ways of evolving and maintaining the appeal of the competitions,” Watzke said, “while also protecting the unique characteristics of German football.”
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