Advanced Television

News Corp for Yes?

November 15, 2012

News Corp is reported to be close to acquiring a stake in the YES Network, the New York-based cable channel that broadcasts Yankees baseball and Nets basketball games, among other regional sports.

Partly owned by the Yankees and available in more than 15 million homes, the YES Network — short for Yankees Entertainment and Sports — would add significant heft to News Corporation’s already large portfolio of regional sports assets and fits into the company’s strategy of building its sports television business. The team’s holding company, Yankees Global Enterprises, would maintain its 34 per cent stake.

News Corp would likely buy a stake in YES from the Yankees’ equity partners, which include Goldman Sachs and Providence Equity Partners, among others.

News Corp has a cash pile, the result of its abandoned bid to acquire the portion of the British satellite provider BSkyB that it did not already own. The company closed its fiscal year with $9.6 billion in cash.

Categories: Articles, Business, M&A