A key meeting to vote on the sale of a 10% stake in the media rights business of Italy's top-flight soccer league has been delayed to Nov. 19 as Serie A clubs need more time to hammer out a deal, two sources close to the matter said on Monday.
A dedicated Serie A committee - which is leading the talks with a consortium of investment funds interested in the stake - met club representatives on Monday and decided to put back the vote, which was initially planned for Nov. 18, by one day, the sources said.
Last month, Serie A granted a consortium including CVC Capital Partners, Advent and state-backed Italian fund FSI a four-week exclusive period to discuss a bid of up to 1.65 billion euros for a 10% stake in the league's media unit.
The exclusivity period ended on Nov. 13 and the two sides are now trying to reach an agreement by the end of the year, the sources said.
"There are still some details to fine tune so the meeting is going to be postponed to Thursday," one of the sources said.
Serie A is still seeking some price adjustment ahead of the Nov. 19 meeting, the source said.
A second source said the final deal would include a lock-up period of six years.
The end goal is to bring in outside investors to replenish Serie A's coffers as the league faces a sharp drop in revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, with matches being played in empty stadiums and broadcasters expected to cut spending on pay-TV deals.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, additional reporting by Clara Denina; Writing by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Alex Richardson)
