Ligue 1 to collect second round bids for media arm in April

Management presentations and Q&As with the shortlisted bidders are underway, one of the sources said.

CVC Capital Partners, Hellman & Friedman (H&F), Silver Lake and Oaktree Capital Partners were shortlisted last December for a 10-15% stake in a commercial vehicle that would house the league's media and commercial operations.

The sale process is taking longer than regular private-equity-focused auctions, but that is explained by the number of approvals from teams and stakeholders required for sports league investments, according to one of the sources. LFP is planning on completing the sale process before the summer, another of the sources added.

The four firms were reported to have submitted proposals showing differing degrees of seriousness valuing the league at between EUR 9bn and EUR 12.5bn, with local media suggesting CVC is willing to invest around EUR 2bn in the asset. The size of offers continue to vary from bidder to bidder, one of the sources said.

While CVC already owns a EUR 2.7bn minority investment in Spain's top tier division La Liga, it is unlikely that investments in both leagues would raise any governance issues since the sponsor only has a minority stake in the Spanish league, another of the sources added.

Meanwhile, H&F's lack of other closely related investments could work to its advantage if other suitors in the auction are seen to have conflicting investments, a fifth source familiar with the situation said.

Oaktree also has experience in investing in European football, having acquired a minority share in Serie A club Inter Milan from Lionrock for USD 336m last year. In 2019, Silver Lake bought a 10% stake in Premier League champions Manchester City for USD 500m.

The entry of private investors in the French top professional football league may well face regulatory headwinds, which could limit the minority stake up for sale, one of the sources said.

French lawmakers are now debating legislation designed to "improve the governance of sports federations". The bill is expected to be voted on by the end of winter and includes a provision requiring professional leagues to not hold less than 80% of the capital and voting rights of their trading company overseeing commercial operations.

Some lawmakers petitioned to reduce that threshold to 10%, according to previous French press reports. A final vote is expected in the coming weeks according to the French parliament's legislative agenda.

The process to find an investor for Ligue 1's commercial arm, which is run by Lazard, Centerview and Darrios, saw 10 funds submit indicative offers last year, as reported. Mergermarket was first to report on LFP's search for external funding for Ligue 1 after it received inbound approaches from private equity last summer.

Ligue1, H&F, Oaktree, CVC and Silver Lake declined to comment.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Media
• France
• France
• CVC Capital Partners
• Hellman & Friedman LLC
• Oaktree Capital
• Silver Lake - London
• lazard