The Walt Disney Co. sold its equity interest in the YES Network (US) to a newly formed investor group, including Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., among others.
The group acquired the 80% of the YES Network not already held by the Yankees in a deal that values the total enterprise at $3.47 billion. Additional equity investments for the transaction were provided by RedBird Capital Partners LLC, funds managed by Blackstone Group Inc.'s Tactical Opportunities business, and Mubadala Capital. The transaction received the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jon Litner will continue to be YES Network's president.
As part of the consortium, an indirect unit of Diamond Sports Group LLC acquired a 20% equity interest in the Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network, valued at about $346 million. In addition, under the YES Network management team, Sinclair will direct the YES Network's traditional and virtual distribution relationships, Sinclair said in a separate news release.
"We are excited about partnering with such a renowned franchise as the New York Yankees," Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said in a statement. "With this investment, we will have 23 RSN brands, including Marquee with the iconic Chicago Cubs, and 21 RSN brands acquired from the Walt Disney Company last week." Sinclair will handle distribution for YES Network.
With the transaction, Disney now has completed the sale of all 22 Fox regional sports networks it was required to divest as a condition of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc. assets. The YES Network, which is the regional sports network home to Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets, was among the RSNs the DOJ required Disney to sell.
Sinclair on Aug. 23 completed its acquisition of majority stakes in 21 regional sports networks and FOX College Sports (US) from Disney, excluding the YES Network.
