A key meeting to vote on the sale of a 10 per cent stake in the media rights business of Italy’s top-flight league has been delayed to November 19 as Serie A clubs need more time to hammer out a deal, two sources close to the matter have said.
A dedicated Serie A committee — which is leading the talks with a consortium of investment funds interested in the stake — met club representatives on Monday and decided to put back the vote, which was initially planned for November 18, by one day, the sources said.
Last month, Serie A granted a consortium including CVC Capital Partners, Advent and state-backed Italian fund FSI a four-week exclusive period to discuss a bid of up to 1.65 billion euros for a 10 per cent stake in the league’s media unit.
The exclusivity period ended on November 13 and the two sides are now trying to reach an agreement by the end of the year, the sources said.
“There are still some details to fine-tune so the meeting is going to be postponed to Thursday,” one of the sources said.
Serie A is still seeking some price adjustment ahead of the November 19 meeting, the source said. A second source said the final deal would include a lock-up period of six years.
The end goal is to bring in outside investors to replenish Serie A’s coffers as the league faces a sharp drop in revenue due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, with matches being played in empty stadiums and broadcasters expected to cut spending on pay-TV deals.
