CBS Sportsline, whose fate I’ve been following very closely, said today that Viacom made a $40 million offer to buy the remaining portion of the Internet-based sports news service operator that it doesn’t already own at a premium of 39 percent.
Based on 42.76 million shares outstanding as of April 30, the deal values SportsLine.com at $64 million.
SportsLine.com said a special committee of its board of directors, formed to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company, will consider and evaluate Viacom’s proposal…
Both companies have agreed to defer until Aug. 1 the payment to CBS of cash and additional shares of SportsLine.com common stock that would otherwise have been due on July 1, in order to evaluate Viacom’s offer.
The news comes after I reported that no one (external media companies) was interested in buying the embatteled sports company…of course, this offer is consistent with that. If Viacom end up buying the company, expect to see some major management changes at Sportsline. CEO Michael Levy and Viacom board do not see eye-to-eye….
WSJ.com: That Viacom has emerged as the likely buyer of SportsLine is something of a surprise. The company had taken steps to assure the payments it was due from SportsLine, dating back to a marketing agreement struck in 1997 and amended in 1999, wouldn’t necessarily make it the majority holder. The cash-and-stock payment due Thursday could have given Viacom more than a 50% stake in SportsLine. SportsLine has two more scheduled payments, each of $20 million in stock, due to Viacom, one in October of next year and another in January 2007.
Related:
– Dis*Content: What’s There To Buy in Sportsline?
– SportsLine Hires Advisor to Explore “Alternatives”
– SportsLine.com To Explore Strategic Alternatives
– Sportsline Faces Uncertain Future Under Viacom Ownership
– Sportsline’s Q1 Results
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