EXCLUSIVE-Soccer-Seven Serie A clubs no longer support media unit deal

Seven Italian Serie A soccer clubs no longer see the sale of a stake in the league's media business to a private equity consortium as a viable option, a document showed on Tuesday. The deal needs the approval of at least 14 of the 20 clubs to proceed so a rejection by seven of the teams, who include champions Juventus, would be enough to block it.

Seven Italian Serie A soccer clubs no longer see the sale of a stake in the league's media business to a private equity consortium as a viable option, a document showed on Tuesday.

The deal needs the approval of at least 14 of the 20 clubs to proceed so a rejection by seven of the teams, who include champions Juventus, would be enough to block it. Serie A agreed in October to enter exclusive talks with a consortium including CVC Capital Partners, Advent International and Italian fund FSI, which offered 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) for a 10% stake in a newly-created unit managing the Italian league's media business.

A final decision on the deal was expected earlier this month but was then postponed as some of the 20 clubs still had reservations. "The term sheet submitted to the clubs belonging to the league has not reached a qualified consensus needed for the approval... as things stand, this development opportunity is not viable anymore", seven clubs, also including SS Lazio and Inter Milan, wrote in a letter addressed to the league's President Paolo Dal Pino and seen by Reuters.

The clubs also said in the letter they did not exclude talks with "financial institutions" to increase the League's business value on international markets. In the letter the seven clubs also asked the League's president to vote on the sale of national television broadcast rights for the 2021-2024 seasons during a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.