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CVC, Advent, FSI win exclusivity for Serie A

Alessia Argentieri
14 October 2020

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CVC Capital Partners, Advent International and FSI have won exclusivity in the negotiations for Italian football league Serie A.

Lega Calcio Serie A's assembly, which is composed of the representatives of all 20 teams and led by president Paolo Pino, decided with a large majority (15 teams voted in favour and five abstained) to grant the consortium exclusivity for a period of four weeks, according to an official announcement.

The consortium plans to acquire a 10% stake in a new media company, which will manage Serie A's broadcasting rights, in a €1.6bn deal, valuing the company at €16bn. Under the joint bid, CVC would own half of the stake, Advent 40% and FSI the remainder.

This would be an increase from the initial offer of €1.3bn that they made in September, according to market rumours.

In addition to CVC, Advent and FSI, numerous private equity firms have shown interest in Serie A in the last few months.

In August, the Italian press reported that Apax Partners, Fortress and Three Hills Capital Partners had formed a consortium to bid for a minority stake.

Previously, it was reported that CVC had secured an exclusive negotiation window until the end of June. The private equity firm was negotiating the acquisition of a stake of around 20% for €2.2bn, seeking a 10-year contract from the 2021/22 season and valuing the business at €10.8bn.

Bain Capital also made a €3.4bn preliminary offer for a 25% stake in Serie A in June. The bid valued Serie A at almost €12bn, surpassing CVC's offer. Bain Capital was assisted by investment bank Nomura, according to press reports.

Market rumours suggets General Atlantic had also joined the bidding, but at present has only put forward a financing proposal.

In addition to offers for a minority stake, some PE firms had put forward financing proposals, including debt or hybrid financing deals. Among them were Apollo, Sixth Street and Blackstone via its GSO private debt arm, according to press reports.