Jays on block?
Rogers considers options but no deal imminent
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. is considering the sale of assets such as baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays and its stake in a smaller cable and media company to free up capital for its main communications businesses.
The media giant’s chief financial officer Tony Staffieri said Tuesday at an industry conference that the company is looking for ways to “surface value” from the Blue Jays — which he said is a “very valuable asset for us that we don’t get full credit for.”
He didn’t discuss who might buy the team, or if a deal would include the Rogers Centre, or what they would be worth.
“To be clear, there isn’t anything imminent that we are about to announce, but we’re certainly looking at the alternatives. Again, would like to get the content without necessarily having the capital tied up on our balance sheet,” Staffieri said.
Aravinda Galappatthige, an analyst who covers Rogers for Canaccord Genuity, wrote that the issue of asset sales has been raised before but Staffieri’s comments are the most explicit to date.
He estimates that the Blue Jays would be worth about $3.20 per share of Rogers, based on an estimated value of $1.65 billion for the team.
But Galappatthige notes that Rogers has other non-core assets including a 37.5 per cent interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and Toronto Raptors basketball team, and the Rogers Centre — worth $200 million to $400 million.
In total, he estimates Rogers has non-core assets that could be worth close to $5 billion or $9.70 per Rogers share.
“However, we highlight that while asset sales are being considered at a high level, we do not believe there are any imminent deals in place at this time,” Galappatthige writes.
Staffieri said the company is currently going through its budgeting process for 2018, and the focus will be on revenue growth and better margins at its