A petition by the French tennis federation for the winding up of the MP & Silva agency was this morning adjourned until October 17.
The Fédération Française de Tennis lodged the petition on August 24. At the High Court of Justice today, the federation said it is owed more than £5m (€5.7m/$6.6m) by MP & Silva – which is majority-owned by Chinese companies Everbright and Baofeng – and has two supporting creditors.
No representatives from MP & Silva were present but the agency this morning sent a letter to the FFT, via legal firm Norton Rose Fulbright, to say it opposed the winding up order. The judge adjourned the case for one week, until October 17.
In 2011, MP & Silva agreed a five-year deal, from 2012 to 2016, with the FFT to distribute media rights to its flagship French Open grand slam across Europe, excluding France. The deal was later extended by a year, until 2017. The two parties in 2013 extended the agreement for a further four years, from 2018 until 2021.
MP & Silva has defaulted on payments to multiple rights-holders, as reported exclusively by TV Sports Markets in June.