Deals
Blackstone Drops Out of Bidding for German Football Media Rights Deal
- Withdrawal leaves CVC as the league’s remaining bidder
- Fans have been protesting against private equity involvement
The game between Hamburger SV and Hannover 96 was interrupted after Hannover fans showed a banner of Martin Kind, the club’s managing director, behind a crosshairs on Feb. 09.
Photographer: Christian Charisius/APThis article is for subscribers only.
Blackstone Inc. has dropped out of the bidding for a controversial football media rights deal in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter, following a backlash from fans critical of foreign capital.
The buyout firm abandoned its pursuit amid concerns about how long a deal could take to come to fruition, according to the people. Structuring and economic factors also made it hard for Blackstone to see how to make a transaction work, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.