DFL
Investor deal: What happens after the Blackstone exit?
“CVC and Blackstone collectively reject!”: Fans in the federal leagues have been protesting against the planned investor deal for weeks. photo
© Swen Pförtner/dpa
Organized football fans have been protesting for weeks against an investor’s entry into the Bundesliga’s media business. And suddenly an interested party withdraws. The DFL is surprised.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the league association did not want to comment on the emerging rumors – and then had to confirm the broken negotiations with the US financial company in the evening. The organized fans celebrated this as an “interim success” – and announced further protests against the planned billion-dollar deal.
What does the Blackstone exit mean for the DFL?
The Bundesliga has been fighting with its most loyal and loudest supporters for weeks, is annoyed about game interruptions match after match day and has now suffered further damage to its image. In the middle of the bidding process, an interested party unexpectedly drops out and makes the league association look bad. The DFL announced: “The further process will continue with CVC according to the planned schedule.” The US financial company is the remaining interested party for the so-called strategic marketing partnership.
Why did Blackstone exit?
The company does not comment officially. The DFL writes that Blackstone “is no longer an option as a strategic marketing partner for the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga for various reasons.” According to the league association, “critical points have accumulated, including in relation to the restrictive governance and economic aspects”. It was therefore about the management of the planned marketing company MediaCo and about money.
According to a report by the financial news agency Bloomberg, which was the first to report on Blackstone’s withdrawal, there are other reasons. The US group has given up the project because of the hesitation of some clubs and the ongoing fan protests. Some clubs had recently spoken out in favor of a repeat vote on the marketing partnership, which was secret and only resulted in extremely narrow approval.
What do the fans say?
The fan alliance “Our Curve” expressly welcomed Blackstone’s exit from negotiations with the DFL. “We celebrate this as an interim success,” said chairman Jost Peter of the German Press Agency. “That was exactly what we wanted to achieve. Our protests were successful.” According to Peter, the resistance will continue because the DFL is still negotiating with the CVC company.
What does the end of Blackstone mean for further negotiations?
The DFL’s negotiating position in the talks with CVC has been weakened. Due to the multi-stage selection process, in which the number of applicants was gradually reduced to two companies, some essential points such as the limited rights of say have already been clarified. But others are still open, as the reaction to the Blackstone exit shows: corporate governance and money.
“The DFL management will take further process steps and negotiations with the interested party in the coming weeks,” says the league association. The final decision then lies with the DFL Presidium. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of March.
Who is CVC anyway?
CVC Capital Partners is one of the largest companies in the financial equity industry with $188 billion in assets under management. CVC is headed in Germany by Alexander Dibelius. The private equity specialist is considered one of the most influential and best-connected managers in the industry in Germany. The company’s funds are involved in more than 120 companies, including the betting provider Tipico and Douglas. CVC has gained sports expertise, among other things, through its temporary involvement in Formula 1. In football, the company is currently involved in the Spanish La Liga and the French Ligue 1.
What do fans think of CVC?
The organized fans of “Our Curve” have fundamental concerns about private equity companies “whose aim is not to promote German football, but to promote their own profits through German football.” CVC’s existing commitments in Spain and France “give rise to significant conflicts of interest.”
The financial investor is trading “with money from Saudi Arabia that is currently being used for so-called sportswashing, i.e. the concealment of violations of general human rights through sporting events.” There is no official statement from CVC regarding the allegations.