French media company Vivendi, the Alisports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda and US mass media group Liberty Media are among 10 entities in contention for a stake in Spanish agency Mediapro, according to Reuters.
The news agency, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter, said the bidders are seeking to secure a stake of either 30 per cent or 51 per cent in Imagina, the operator of Mediapro.
Reuters said bidders sent non-binding offers on December 12. Along with the aforementioned parties, China's Citic Private Equity Funds management and private equity fund Advent are also said to be in contention.
Potential Mediapro investors must now send binding proposals for up to 51 per cent of the company to the agency’s advisors Citigroup and Lazard, the sources said. The banks are said to have requested offers for the two stakes so they can assess how much bidders are prepared to pay to secure control of the firm.
A stake in Mediapro is up for offer because Spanish private equity firm Torreal has said it intends to sell its 23 per cent holding. Besides Torreal, advertising giant WPP also has a 23 per cent stake, while Mexican media group Televisa owns 19 per cent and directors Tatxo Benet, Jaume Roures and Gerard Romy each hold 12 per cent.
The three founders would all sell a small stake of about two per cent each, Reuters said, but other shareholders could also divest shares if the bidders were ready to pay an attractive price for 51 per cent of the company.
Mediapro’s prized asset is domestic rights to LaLiga, while it also markets international rights to the top division of Spanish club football. In May, Mediapro sealed a five-year syndicated loan agreement with eight banks worth €306m ($328m), in a move it said would aid expansion plans.
Mediapro said the agreement would allow it to restructure its funding and lead to the cancellation of a €155m syndicated loan signed a year ago, as well as a €98m derivative-based funding instrument.
Mediapro in April recorded a 40-per-cent increase in its gross operating profit for the 2015 financial year, adding that it expected a further rise for 2016. The group secured ebitda (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) of €129m, versus the 2014 figure of €90m. This was achieved despite turnover dropping 1.37 per cent year-on-year from €1.53bn in 2014 to €1.509bn.