It’s official: The Walt Disney Company has sold its equity interest in the cable sports and entertainment offering YES Network to a newly formed investor group that includes Yankee Global Enterprises and the company poised to merge with Tribune Media.
That would be Sinclair Broadcast Group.
The Yankees-Sinclair group acquired the 80% of the YES Network not already held by the Yankees, at a total enterprise value of $3.47 billion.
The news comes as the proposed transaction received Justice Department approval, and has now closed.
The deal completes a DOJ consent decree obligation entered into by Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox that allowed Disney’s acquisition of Fox to proceed while requiring the subsequent sale of the latter’s interests in 22 regional sports networks, including the YES Network.
On August 23, Sinclair completed its acquisition of 21 of the RSNs from Disney, excluding the YES Network.
