A shortlist of private equity firm’s looking to acquire a stake in the holding company of the Bundesliga’s media rights is to be drawn up by German professional football’s governing body, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter as confirming that the supervisory board of DFL Deutsche Fussball Liga will consider the value of potential investments alongside potential conflicts of interest.
EQT AB has so far presented the highest bid with an initial proposal valuing DFL’s media rights unit at about €12.7bn ($14bn), according to Bloomberg’s sources.
CVC Capital Partners meanwhile, has valued the business at €12.5bn, while Blackstone Inc has given it a valuation of €11.9bn, and Advent International, which doesn’t have an investment in another league or football club, has presented a preliminary bid with a valuation of €10.8bn.
Senior Blackstone executive David Blitzer owns a stake in German football team FC Augsburg, while CVC has investments in France’s Ligue 1 football league as well as Italy’s Serie A.
