French luxury goods group PPR SA (EPA:PP), which owns a  83% stake in of Puma SE (ETR:PUM), is not looking to increase its interest in the German sporting equipment company at present, PPR’s managing director Jean-Francois Palus said.

Speaking at Puma’s annual shareholder meeting, Palus, also the chairman of the sportswear company, said PPR will focus for the moment on supporting Puma’s transformation aimed at allowing it to take advantage of its potential.

Puma makes and sells sports and sport lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories under the Puma, Tretorn and Cobra Golf brands.

PPR plans to change its name to Kering as of June, subject to shareholders approval at their annual meeting on 18 June 2013.

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) has accepted an improved bid of EUR652m (USD858.6m) for a controlling stake in Hellenic Football Prognostics Organisation SA (OPAP) by Greek-Czech investment fund Emma Delta, the privatisation agency said in a statement.

HRADF had invited Emma Delta, the sole bidder for the 33% stake in the gambling operator plus management rights, to increase its initial offer of EUR622m, which was considered too low. The investment fund had until Wednesday to come up with an improved proposal.

Under the transaction, which is contingent on regulatory clearance, the Greek government will also be paid a EUR60m dividend for last year.

The privatisation of OPAP was completed successfully on Wednesday, Bloomberg quoted Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras as saying.

The Emma Delta consortium consists of Greece’s Melissanidis Group, Czech private equity firm PPF Group NV and Italian gaming group Lottomatica Group SpA (BIT:LTO).

Stan Kroenke is not looking to shed his majority stake in UK football club Arsenal and there has been no contact from any potential suitors, Arsenal communications director Mark Gonnella told Reuters, following a report that a Middle East consortium had requested a meeting with the billionaire over a potential deal.

Kroenke, who has never cashed out his sports investments, is committed to the club, in which he owns two-thirds, for the long-term, the official told the agency.

The Sunday Telegraph had said the consortium, backed by Qatari and UAE funds, planned to make a GBP1.5bn (USD2.3bn/EUR1.7bn) offer for the club.

Kroenke bought a majority interest in Arsenal two years ago. The transaction valued the target at GBP731m.

UK communications services provider BT Group Plc (LON:BT.A) has agreed to purchase the UK and Ireland TV channels business of US sports entertainment company ESPN Inc for an unspecified amount, the pair said.

The operations being acquired include the ESPN and ESPN America channels and their live sports rights portfolio, which comprises the FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, UEFA Europa League and the German Bundesliga.

The transaction will allow BT to continue to show a range of US sports that ESPN America currently shows. Besides, it will enable the buyer to provide live coverage of the FA Cup for the 2013/14 season, the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League until the end of the 2016/17 season and the UEFA Europa League and German Bundesliga through to the end of the 2014/15 season, BT said.

The agreement does not include the ESPN Classic channel, which the US firm plans to wind down in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

The deal is seen to wrap up on 31 July, subject to regulatory approval.

A Seattle-based group of investors led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen said that it had sealed a binding deal to take a 65% stake in Sacramento Kings Limited Partnership LP, the owner and operator of the Sacramento Kings professional basketball team.

The investors, which include Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, are buying 53% of the target from the Maloof family, which will preserve a small interest in the team. The remaining 12% will be acquired from another minority owner.

Financial details of the transaction, which was also confirmed by the target, the Maloofs and the US National Basketball Association (NBA), were not revealed. According to reports, the deal could be worth some USD340m (EUR254.4m).

Hansen said that he could not comment on the future plans of his group about the franchise as the deal was still pending approval by NBA’s board of governors. Yet, it is believed that the investor would move the team to Seattle and rename them the SuperSonics, which is the name of the basketball team that was founded in 1967 and was moved in 2008 to Oklahoma City assuming the name Thunder.

US media group News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) may unveil an agreement this week to acquire sports TV channel SportsTime Ohio from the Cleveland Indians baseball team for USD230m (EUR175.8m), Reuters reported today quoting unnamed sources.

The transaction, if successful, will be the group’s second purchase of a regional sports channel since last month, when it agreed to buy a 49% stake in cable channel operator Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network LLC, doing business as YES Network.

Through the acquisition of SportsTime Ohio, News Corp’s Fox Sports unit would get the rights to broadcast the Major League Baseball team’s games, two of the sources said. According to one of the insiders, Cleveland Indians’ owner Larry Dolan insisted that the deal be completed by the end of December.

News Corp did not respond to Reuters’ emails. In addition, Reuters could not get in touch with representatives of Cleveland Indians and SportsTime Ohio.

SportsTime Ohio was established in 2006 by Dolan. Prior to that Fox Sports held the rights to Cleveland Indians games. It is not clear yet whether the channel will remain independent following the deal or will be combined with Fox Sports.

English Premier League football club Portsmouth is expected to have a new owner by the end of the year after Pompey Supporters’ Trust (PST) sealed a conditional agreement to purchase it from its administrator, Reuters reports today, citing the buyer’s chairman Ashley Brown.

The agreement with PST, which represents a group of fans of the club, is subject to legal approval allowing the administrator, accountants firm PKF (UK) LLP, to sell the club’s football stadium Fratton Park to the investor.

Portsmouth was placed into administration in February. The club, with debts reported to be some GBP61m (USD97m/EUR76m), subsequently started playing in the third tier of English soccer.

PST was named the preferred bidder for the soccer club in October. The second bidder for Portsmouth, its former owner Balram Chainrai, cancelled his bid for the club on 9 November, saying he was dissatisfied with the way the administrator coped with Portsmouth’s financial hurdles. Chainrai, through his Portpin company, is still seeking GBP17m from the club that has been secured against Fratton Park.

International media giant News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) has finalised its acquisition of the 50% stake in Singapore-based ESPN STAR Sports it did not already own from sports entertainment provider ESPN Inc.

News Corp bought the interest via a wholly-owned subsidiary. Upon completion, ESPN STAR Sports has become a fully-controlled unit of News Corp.

Financial details on the transaction, which was announced on 6 June 2012, were not provided.

The deal is in line with News Corp’s plan to streamline its operating model and consolidate affiliate ownership structures and also reflects its goal of cementing its presence in sports programming in emerging markets, News Corp’s deputy COO James Murdoch had said.

As a result of its exit from the tie-up, ESPN will become more independent and flexible in backing its ultimate parent The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in its drive in Asia, the parties had said. ESPN aims to independently pursue future opportunities in Asia, continuing to provide sports entertainment via its digital businesses, including cricket brand ESPNCricinfo, as well as ESPNFC and ESPN Mobile, amid the increasing digital penetration in the region, ESPN’s president John Skipper had noted.

News Corp has named Peter Hutton managing director of ESPN STAR Sports, replacing Manu Sawhney.

US sports shoe and clothing group Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) said on Wednesday it had struck a definitive deal to sell Manchester-based football equipment supplier Umbro Ltd for USD225m (EUR173.9m).

The buyer is New York-based brand management company Iconix Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ:ICON), which licenses brands to retailers and manufacturers primarily in the apparel, footwear and apparel accessory industries.

The divestment serves the company’s strategy, revealed at the end of May, to concentrate on its Nike, Jordan, Converse and Hurley brands, which are seen to have high growth potential. The plan also includes the sale of leather handbag and shoe maker Cole Haan.

Commenting on the deal, Nike’s president and CEO, Mark Parker, said that the divestment of any of the company’s businesses was a difficult decision to make. According to him, the Nike’s football category would be able to meet the needs of footballers following the sale.

Neil Cole, CEO Iconix Brand Group, described the acquisition as an “exciting” one, which will add more than 30 licensees in over 100 countries with a global loyal consumer fan base. He pledged that his company would work to further develop the brand.

The transaction is seen to be finalised by the end of 2012.

Rangers, the Glasgow football club, has had a torrid couple of seasons off the pitch, culminating in a spectacular implosion that forced it into administration in February.

In a lengthy blog post today, Channel 4 reporter Alex Thomson highlights a particularly disturbing aspect of the ongoing disaster: what he describes as a campaign of intimidation by Rangers fans aimed at those who have challenged the stricken club.

Although more a summary than an independent investigation, Thomson does a powerful job of explaining the underbelly of Scottish football – and he reveals the culture of threats ‘is getting worse’.

Thomson has personal experience of his subject: he wrote the foreword to Downfall, so far the only book on the crisis, and was, he says, rewarded with a barrage of abuse.

Downfall’s publisher, Frontline Noir, describes ‘pressure applied’ to discourage shops from stocking the title – while some stockists have reported fans screaming at staff for stocking copies according to Thomson.

And in a spectacular reverse ferret, the Sun announced and then cancelled a serialisation of Downfall, faced with complaints and threats considered so serious the police were called in.

This isn’t the only recent incident that has required police attention.

The head of the Scottish Football Association, Stewart Regan, consulted counterterrorism police after he claimed he had received death threats from diehard Rangers fans. Other Scottish Football Association directors had their addresses published online.

The three members of a tribunal that slammed Rangers for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ also saw their addresses published, and again the police were brought in to advise them on security.

All of this casts the media reporting that has taken place - at both national and local level, in the business and sports sections –  in a new light.

Thomson’s own reporting has included revealing a network of offshore transactions that brought the club to the taxman’s attention. And the wheelings and dealings of majority shareholder Craig Whyte have come under forensic attention from Thomson, Private Eye’s financial maven City Slicker, and others.

The NUJ Scotland is aware of 25 journalists who have ‘been threatened for telling the truth about Rangers’, Thomson says – and he wryly admits he has become used to the abuse himself. For local reporters, the threats may be far more plausible.

And even for a national reporter, writing a post like today’s takes courage. Little of what he reveals will surprise anyone in Glasgow, Thomson points out – yet from the outside this is an attack on freedom of speech so drastic that you would hardly believe it could exist in modern-day Britain.

Read Threats and silence: the intimidation by Rangers fans

Written by  Alice K Ross for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.