Actually, the NZR position has dropped to ~1.6% as they were unable to participate in the recent CR.
That is not particularly good news for sky shareholders as we ideally want NZR to have as much skin in the game as possible with Sky to influence future decisions around broadcast rights.
Their shares were issued at $1.24/share I think - so the market value of their position has dropped by ~85%. Ouch.
If the SL deal goes through it will absolutely impact Sky. Whether that impact is positive or negative is yet to be seen.
One scenario could be that they pressure NZR to sell their interest in Sky and then make sure that there is a bidding war for rights when negotiations start in 2025 to maximise revenue. SL would own 12.5% of NZR so would not be able to force anything but would have a big voice at the table.
Or maybe SL would see more value in the SKY TV/RUGBYPASS investment and see other opportunities to help NZR maximise earnings through these channels.
Let’s see if the deal is approved first. If it is, only time will tell how this impacts our business. I don’t think it is wise to jump to the worst cast scenario, though we should of course acknowledge the possibility.
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