Avenue Capital emerges as frontrunner for stake in Serie A media rights venture, sources say

MILAN, Oct 16 (Reuters) - ⁠Private equity firm Avenue Capital has emerged as the leading bidder for a ⁠minority stake in the company that will hold the international media rights ‌of Italy's top soccer league Serie A, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Serie A is exploring the sale of a stake in a company that will hold its international broadcasting, sponsorship and betting ​rights and last month it received final bids from ⁠private equity firms.

Serie A clubs met ⁠on Friday for an initial review of the bids, the two people said.

New York-based Avenue ⁠Capital ‌is targeting a stake of 10% in the media company for €320 million, the people said, which would put the overall valuation of the venture at €3.2 billion.

Avenue ⁠is in the lead despite the fact that some rival ​bidders have offered to ‌pay more because its offer is structured as a common equity investment,without the ⁠protections on future ​cash flows sought by some of the competitors, one of the two people said.

The person added that Carlyle and Nextalia, which teamed up to submit a joint bid, had offered around €650 million ⁠for a stake of roughly 17%, valuing the venture ​at about €3.75 billion.

The Avenue Capital offer will be examined more closely in the coming weeks by the clubs, the people said, cautioning that there is no final decision on the ⁠matter.

Avenue Capital and Serie A declined to comment. Carlyle and Nextalia were not immediately available to comment.

Any deal requires the backing of at least 14 of the league's 20 clubs.

Hometo Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, the Italian league has been struggling in recent ​years to sell its media rights abroad, as broadcasters' interest ⁠dwindled due to a crowded fixture list dominated by the expanded UEFA Champions League and the ​popularity of England's Premier League.

The Serie A international media ‌unit generates sales of around €250 million a ​year, a fraction of those yielded by Premier League and Spain'sLaLiga, according to data from European soccer body UEFA.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina Za)

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米兰，10 月 16 日（路透社）——据两位知情人士向路透社透露，私募股权公司 Avenue Capital 已成为竞购意大利顶级足球联赛 Serie A 国际媒体版权公司少数股权的领先竞标者。

意甲联赛正在考虑出售其国际转播、赞助和博彩权持有公司股份，上个月收到了私募股权公司的最终报价。

据两位知情人士透露，意甲俱乐部于周五举行会议，对竞标方案进行了初步审查。

知情人士透露，总部位于纽约的 Avenue Capital 计划以 3.2 亿欧元的价格收购这家媒体公司 10% 的股份，这将使该合资企业的整体估值达到 32 亿欧元。

知情人士之一表示，尽管一些竞争对手出价更高，但 Avenue 仍处于领先地位，因为它的报价结构是普通股投资，没有像一些竞争对手那样寻求对未来现金流的保护。

该人士补充说，凯雷集团和Nextalia联手提交了一份联合竞标书，出价约6.5亿欧元收购约17%的股份，使该合资企业的估值达到约37.5亿欧元。

知情人士表示，俱乐部将在未来几周内更仔细地研究 Avenue Capital 的收购要约，但他们也谨慎地指出，目前尚未就此事做出最终决定。

Avenue Capital和意甲联赛均拒绝置评。凯雷集团和Nextalia暂未对此事发表评论。

任何协议都需要得到联盟 20 支球队中至少 14 支球队的支持。

意大利联赛是国际米兰、AC米兰和尤文图斯的主场，但近年来，由于赛程密集，加上扩容后的欧冠联赛和英格兰超级联赛的受欢迎程度，广播公司的兴趣逐渐减弱，意大利联赛在海外出售媒体版权方面一直举步维艰。

根据欧洲足球协会联盟（UEFA）的数据，意甲国际媒体部门每年创造约 2.5 亿欧元的销售额，仅为英超联赛和西班牙西甲联赛销售额的一小部分。

（Elvira Pollina 报道；Valentina Za 编辑）

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