By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Sixth Street (NYSE:TSLX) is set to join a handful of private equity funds bidding for rights to broadcast German soccer, the Financial Times reported on Monday, only days before a key meeting between the German Football League and potential bidders.
The Bundesliga has been in stop-start talks with private equity groups for more than three months over setting up a vehicle that would control global commercial and broadcast rights. The idea is to sell a minority stake to financial investors with a view to raising money for its clubs, who have struggled to stay internationally competitive in recent years.
In part, that has been due to the lack of competition in the Bundesliga itself, a competition that Bayern Munich has won for 10 years in a row, although this season is shaping up to be a closer affair than most in the recent past.
The talks are set to resume on Wednesday. An initial long list of eight potential bidders has narrowed to five, while Sixth Street's entry would take the number up to six, the FT said.
According to the FT, the Bundesliga is looking for a valuation of €18 billion (€1=$1.0778), aiming to raise around €4.5B with the sale of a 25% stake in the new venture. Neither the Bundesliga nor Sixth Street confirmed the report.
The prospect of fund-raising talks being revived gave a modest boost at the opening to the stock of Borussia Dortmund (ETR:BVB), the Bundesliga's only listed club. By 03:35 ET (08:35 GMT), Borussia Dortmund stock was up 1.9%, testing a six-month high.