Deals
Sinclair Considers Tapping Private Equity to Buy Fox Sports Networks
- CEO says partners would be needed to acquire all 22 channels
- Disney is divesting the outlets as part of Fox takeover
Photographer: Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images
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Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the largest owner of U.S. TV stations, would need to team up with a private equity firm to bid for all of the 22 regional sports networks that Walt Disney Co. is selling as part of its $71 billion Fox deal, according to its top executive.
Christopher Ripley, Sinclair’s chief executive officer, called the regional sports channels “a very interesting fit” and listed numerous potential cost savings. But he said the Fox sports networks put up for sale by Disney “are quite large” and that his company would need a partner to afford them all.