Six Nations backer courts investors as it kicks off €2.7bn debt deal

The concern conveyance acceptable up to location a drawstring of salient sports assets is launching a €2.7bn (£2.3bn) debt-raising process aimed astatine backing its ambitions to go a planetary powerhouse.

Sky News has learnt that Global Sport Group (GSG), which is owned by CVC Capital Partners and counts a involvement successful Six Nations Rugby among its holdings, kicked disconnected ceremonial talks with investors connected Monday.

The indebtedness woody would supply important firepower for CVC to get different sports properties astir the satellite arsenic it seeks to assemble the globe's astir compelling portfolio of sports-related assets.

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Sources said the debt-raising process, which is being overseen by Goldman Sachs, was being tally successful parallel with a wider acceptable of discussions involving imaginable providers of equity superior to GSG.

These second conversations see blue-chip investors specified arsenic Ares Management and Bain Capital, according to sources.

Among the indebtedness funders with which CVC is engaged are HPS, the planetary backstage recognition elephantine which is simply a subsidiary of Blackrock, the world's biggest plus manager.

GSG besides owns interests successful the women's nonrecreational tennis tour, Premiership Rugby, the apical flights of French and Spanish football, and planetary volleyball.

Its caller warfare thorax is aimed astatine acquiring a bid of different assets successful sports with important commercialized maturation prospects.

Chaired by Marc Allera, the erstwhile BT Group user boss, GSG besides owns a involvement successful an Indian Premier League cricket franchise astatine a clip of important capitalist involvement successful the competition.

Alongside Goldman, PJT Partners and Raine Group are advising connected the GSG refinancing.

Once completed, the woody is volition alteration CVC to stay invested successful its sports portfolio for longer, portion besides paving the mode for the merchantability of a number involvement successful GSG oregon a aboriginal archetypal nationalist offering connected a large planetary exchange.

Having made billions of dollars from its ownership of Formula One centrifugal racing - 1 of the astir lucrative deals successful the past of athletics - CVC has bought stakes successful leagues and different assets spanning a spectrum of elite sporting assets implicit the past 2 decades.

Its concern successful the media rights to La Liga - Spain's equivalent of the Premier League - is expected to make a handsome instrumentality for the firm, though a comparable woody successful France has faced challenges amid broadcasters' fiscal challenges successful the country.

CVC's backing of planetary sports properties is intended to presumption it to maximise their commercialized imaginable done caller media and sponsorship rights deals, arsenic good arsenic their enlargement into caller formats aimed astatine drafting wider audiences amid accelerated shifts successful media consumption.

In rugby union, its acquisition of a involvement successful Premiership Rugby's commercialized rights was deed by the pandemic and the consequent fiscal pressures connected clubs which saw a fig of the league's teams forced into insolvency.

CVC, which bought into Premiership Rugby successful 2019, owns a 27% involvement successful the league.

Its sporting assets volition proceed to stay autonomous and autarkic of 1 another, contempt the caller umbrella holding entity.

One expected payment of the GSG attack would beryllium the sourcing of caller concern opportunities, with CVC being linked to a bid for 1 of the caller European NBA hoops franchises which volition beryllium sold successful the coming months.

Formal talks betwixt the NBA and investors volition get nether mode successful the coming days.

Global sports properties person go 1 of the hottest maturation areas for backstage superior successful caller years, with firms specified arsenic Ares, Silver Lake Partners and Bridgepoint each investing important sums successful teams, leagues and different assets crossed the industry.

CVC declined to comment.