YES Network Investors Looking At Selling Majority Stakes
Goldman Sachs and several other investors in YES Network “are eyeing a sale
of a majority stake” in the network, which “could sell for close to
three times its value when it was founded” in ’01, according to Tim
Arango of the N.Y. POST. The net was founded with initial capital of $850M, but
currently could be worth as much as $3B. Sources said that Goldman Sachs and Providence
Equity Partners, two of the channel’s original private investors, “gained
the right to sell their stakes without needing the approval of the Yankees.”
A group led by Ray Chambers also is likely to sell its stake. No formal process
is underway, but “several potential suitors have been ‘sniffing around’
the network,” including Comcast, Verizon and ESPN. The investors “are
likely to wait on a sale until early next year, when News Corp. would be able
to bid.” As part of the February ‘05 deal between News Corp. and Cablevision
to end their partnership in several RSNs, News Corp. agreed not to re-enter the
N.Y. RSN market for two years. A source said that the Yankees “are not likely
to sell ... and instead would partner with a new owner” (N.Y.
POST, 8/11).
|
