La Liga is turning to private equity to resolve its pandemic-related cash shortfall. Now it just needs its teams to approve the deal.

The premier Spanish soccer league agreed to sell a stake in assets such as sponsorships and technology, but not management or broadcast rights, to CVC Capital Partners for $3.2 billion. These assets will be moved to a new holding company. The agreement values La Liga at around $28.7 billion.

Luxembourg-based CVC, with $114.8 billion in assets under management, has aggressively sought out investments in sports teams and leagues.

• In March, CVC agreed to invest up to $508.5 million for a one-seventh share in Six Nations Rugby. Last year, it took a 28% stake in the United Rugby Championship for $169 million.
• In February it invested $300 million in a partnership with the International Volleyball Federation. 
• In June, reports came out that CVC was in advanced talks on a $600 million deal to merge the two major tennis organizations, the ATP and WTA. 
• In February, it was in talks with the San Antonio Spurs about purchasing a 15% stake.

La Liga needs a majority of the 42 teams in its first and second divisions to agree to the deal for it to move forward, and that’s not a foregone conclusion.

In May, Bundesliga teams blocked a deal that would have sold a 25% stake in its media rights to private equity firms including CVC. Serie A clubs did the same on a similar proposal for 10% of the league’s media rights.

One of La Liga’s most popular teams, Real Madrid, has reportedly voiced concern over the proposed deal.

Editor’s Note: La Liga partners with FOS on its Rising 25 award.

Hydrow is in talks with Sandbridge X2 Corp. to go public via SPAC, which would reportedly value the company at more than $1 billion.

Hydrow sells connected fitness rowing machines for $2,199, competing with the likes Peloton, Mirror, and Tonal. It raised $25 million last year and more than $20 million the year before in investment rounds led by L Catterton, a LVMH-backed private equity firm that is also in talks to go public. 

The four-year-old company’s sales jumped by 400% during the pandemic and continue to accelerate, according to Hydrow CEO and founder Bruce Smith.

It’s not the only at-home fitness brand prepared to go public.

• Echelon Fitness is reportedly exploring strategic options, including a public listing, that could value the company at over $1 billion.
• iFIT Health & Fitness, formerly ICON, announced it would acquire Sweat, an online fitness training platform, for around $300 million ahead of an IPO in the fall.
• Beachbody, SPAC Forest Road Acquisition, and Max Fitness were granted shareholder approval in June to merge, valuing the combined entity at $2.9 billion.

Hydrow also sells heart-rate monitors, yoga accessories, headphones, and more, and named Kevin Hart as its creative director in October.

Sony raised its financial outlook for the year up to $6.4 billion from $6.02 billion following its latest earnings report on Wednesday. 

The Japanese tech giant posted a record operating profit of $2.57 billion in its fiscal Q1, a 15% increase year-over-year.

The strong quarter was driven by Sony’s PlayStation 5 console — which has sold more than 10 million units globally since its November 2020 release, making it the fastest-selling console in the company’s history. Sony also sold about 500,000 PlayStation 4 units during the quarter, bringing its lifetime sales to 116.4 million.

In May, the company said it expects to sell 14.8 million PS5 units in the fiscal year ending in March 2022.

Sony’s Game & Network Services division reported $5.6 billion in first-quarter sales, a 9.7% jump year-over-year. TVs, cameras, music, and movies also saw increased sales.

Sony has been expanding its gaming reach through a series of acquisitions.

• In June, it acquired Finnish video game developer Housemarque, the studio behind PS5 hit “Returnal.”
• Last month, it bought Netherlands-based Nixxes Software to strengthen PlayStation Studios.

There’s an urgent need for more blockbuster first-party titles like recent hits “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” and “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.”

Sony reported 63.6 million games sold in Q1, down from 91.4 million in the same period a year prior.