Business · Companies · 1 day ago
Rogers combines sports holdings and plans minority stake sale
Rogers Communications has completed a $4.35-billion deal for Kilmer Sports’ stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, giving Rogers full ownership of MLSE.
The holdings include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC and Argonauts, as well as Scotiabank Arena.
Rogers plans to bring those assets together with the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre and Sportsnet under a new business called Rogers Sports.
The company wants to sell up to 30 per cent of that business and use the proceeds to pay down debt.
Rogers says the combined sports business is worth more than $25-billion and hopes investors will recognize its value.
The move comes as Rogers and other Canadian telecom companies face slow growth, while Rogers carries about $40-billion in long-term debt.
Its debt rating is only one notch above non-investment grade, and a downgrade could follow if the company does not satisfy credit rating agencies.
Rogers plans to review how the new business should operate, but the value it can get from selling a stake remains uncertain.
Rogers Communications plans to sell a minority stake in its combined sports business, Rogers Sports.
The company plans to offer as much as 30 per cent to investors and use the proceeds to pay down debt.
Rogers says the business is worth more than $25-billion and hopes a stake sale will help investors recognize the value of its sports assets.
The combined business will include the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre, Sportsnet and four major sports teams owned through Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
Rogers’s senior unsecured debt is rated one notch above noninvestment grade by all three major rating agencies.
- Who
- Rogers Communications plans to sell the stake.
- What
- It plans to offer a minority stake in Rogers Sports, with as much as 30 per cent available.
- When
- The plan follows Rogers’s completion of its final MLSE purchase this month.
- Where
- The business and its sports holdings are in Canada.
- Why
- Rogers hopes the sale will show investors the value of its sports assets and raise money to pay down debt.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
We think it’s going to be a game changer and a real value differentiator for us in the Canadian landscape
Our job is to execute on our strategy and on our vision
It’s going to be for the market to decide
Rogers began owning the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rogers announced its $20-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications.
Rogers closed its $4.35-billion deal with Kilmer Sports to purchase its stake in MLSE.
Rogers plans to sell a minority stake in its combined sports business.
- Proposed stake
- As much as 30 per cent
- Rogers’s valuation of the business
- More than $25-billion
- MLSE deal with Kilmer Sports
- $4.35-billion
- Combined MLSE teams
- Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts
- Rogers long-term debt
- $40-billion at last report
Sources
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