FRANKFURT/MUNICH (Reuters) - CVC Capital Partners is the last remaining candidate in German football's planned media rights partnership after U.S. financial investor Blackstone (NYSE:BX) dropped out, the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) said on Wednesday.
"Blackstone is no longer an option as a strategic marketing partner for the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 for several reasons following good discussions," DFL said in a statement.
"The process will continue with CVC according to the planned schedule," the DFL said, adding that it would not go into further detail.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that CVC was the last remaining bidder, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
CVC and Blackstone had recently offered around 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) for the rights stake, according to the sources, in a bidding process in which Swedish private equity firm EQT was also previously involved.
However, there were concerns among the clubs about CVC's potential conflict of interest, given it already has similar investments in football in France and Spain, according to media reports.
A decision should be made by the end of March, but football fans are now making their voices heard on the matter, having repeatedly disrupted Bundesliga games in recent weeks with protests against the entry of a financial investor. ($1 = 0.9333 euros)