(Bloomberg) -- Private equity firms TPG and Thomas H. Lee Partners are the leading bidders for Learfield Communications Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.
The sports-marketing company, with clients including the University of Alabama and Northwestern University, could fetch about $1.3 billion in a sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Lending packages of more than seven times the company's earnings are being arranged to finance the deal, the people said.
Other firms that submitted final bids for Learfield include New Mountain Capital and Atairos, the people said. Atairos was founded by Michael Angelakis, the former vice chairman at Comcast Corp.
Learfield, based in Jefferson City, Missouri, helps athletic departments negotiate sponsorship and licensing deals. It's been owned by Providence Equity Partners since 2013.
Representatives for Providence, Learfield, TPG, Thomas H. Lee and Atairos declined to comment. A spokesman for New Mountain Capital didn't respond to a request for comment.
If TPG wins the auction, the buyout firm intends to merge Learfield with its portfolio company Creative Artists Agency LLC, one of the people said. CAA started its sports consultancy unit in October 2011 and now manages more than $2.5 billion in sponsorship rights, according to its website.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kiel Porter in New York at kporter17@bloomberg.net, Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net, Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wollman, Dan Reichl
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