The crown jewel of George Steinbrenner's business, Yes Network, the cable network of the New York Yankees, is reportedly being shopped around to potential buyers. The price being thrown around for the company is $3 billion to $3.5 billion.
The network doesn't release financial data, but Fortune, citing Kagan Media Research, says the company generated about $340.5 million in revenue for 2006, an increase of about 6 percent over 2005. Kagan also estimates about $136 million of that is cash flow.
With cash flow being the key number for valuating the company, and other sports networks tradingat 19 times cash flow, it's estimated if the company grows by 8 percent this year, the $3 billion number being presented could be a reality.
There have been some denials that the company is on the market, but Gerry Cardinale, a Goldman managing director and YES board member, confirmed it's being shopped, saying, "We're testing the waters with a limited universe of quality buyers. We would consider selling only if we receive a full and fair price."
With the recent filing for divorce of George Steinbrenner's daughter Jennifer and husband Steve Swindal, who was Steinbrenner's right hand man, his son Hal is now the lead man for the company. When asked if this also means the Yankees team itself is for sale, he said, "There's no thought of selling the team. It's been in the family for 35 years, and it's going to stay that way."
Potential bidders for the YES Network are Comcast (CMCSA), Cablevision (CVC), Verizon (VZ) and News Corp. (NWS-A).
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