Lopez Seals Fuse TV Deal

Lopez was competing for the network with former boyfriend Sean Combs but it appears SiTV was able to outbid him, offering MSG $226 million plus a 15 percent equity stake in the combined company.

The equity stake could be worth about $50 million, an analyst with Stifel Financial Corp. told Bloomberg News. However, the equity portion could be reduced based on certain performance goals. MSG will also gain a seat on the SiTV Media board of directors.

SiTV Media CEO Michael Schwimmer said in a statement the acquisition will provide significant benefits to NuvoTV, and “enhances our distribution relationships, dramatically expands our aggregate subscriber base, provides substantial economies of scale, affords unique opportunities for programming and cross-promotion and should be extremely appealing to the advertising community as we roll out our plans for both NUVOtv and Fuse.”

Lopez added the deal means the networks will be able to offer more content “both from a Latino perspective and across multiple genres, including music, to a broader audience.”

She holds a minority stake in NuvoTV, contributes programming to the network and serves as its chief creative officer.

Combs had backing from billionaire Ron Burkle andplanned to convert Fuse TV into his own Revolt TV channel.

SiTV’s deal with MSG is expected to close between July 1 and Sept. 30.