(Reuters) – Sports streaming service DAZN is nearing a deal to acquire Britain’s BT Sport in an estimated $800 million transaction that will give it access to sought-after rights to the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
A deal is expected to be reached as soon as this month, after a protracted series of negotiations that became public last fall, the sources said. The transaction has yet to be finalized and could still fall apart, they added.
Representatives of BT and DAZN declined to comment, as did those for Discovery INC, which emerged as a rival bidder in December when discussions between BT and DAZN stalled.
The U.S. media company, which owns the pan-European sports network Eurosport, offered to form a joint venture with BT, something the telecoms company was considering as an alternative to a sale, another source said. Britain’s Sunday Telegraph first reported the joint-venture talks.
Discovery is still in discussions though DAZN is viewed as the leading contender at the moment, according to two of the sources.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Paul Sandle in London; Elvira Pollina in Milan; editing by Kenneth Li, Kirsten Donovan)
