Rogers Communications is w orking on the sale of The Shopping Channel and has attracted interest from a number of potential buyers, it emerged late last week.
The Canadian telco could raise upwards of C$300 million (€213 million) from the sale of its TV home shopping channel, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The sources said that Rogers began the sale process around six weeks ago, has received the first round of bids and is lining up second-round bids.
They named U.S. media group Liberty Interactive as one of the bidders.
The newswire added that U.S.-based home shopping channel operators HSN and EVINE Live could be among the bidders, as could a number of private equity firms.
The Shopping Channel is one of a number of media brands in Rogers’ portfolio.
Its other TV channels include City, FX Canada and Sportsnet, while it also holds a range of radio stations and publishing businesses. It owns the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and holds a stake in sports team owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
Rogers’ media division generated C$464 million in operating revenues in the first quarter of this year, contributing 14.6% of group revenues, which came in at C$3.18 billion.
The firm’s mobile business is by far its biggest revenue-generator at C$1.79 billion in Q1.
Reuters‘ sources speculated that Rogers is looking to sell The Shopping Channel due to changing consumer habits and an increase in online shopping.
However, they noted that the operator could still decide not to go ahead with the sale.
There has been no official comment from Rogers.
