Scottish Media Group yesterday became the latest British TV company to buy into a soccer club with an £8 million sterling (€11.5 million) investment in Scottish premier league side Hearts. SMG is taking an initial 19.9 per cent stake in Scotland's third biggest club and subscribing for a further £4.5 million of convertible loan stock which could give it a stake of up to 37.4 per cent in the Edinburgh club.
The deal should give Hearts - officially Heart of Midlothian - ammunition in its efforts to take on Glasgow's traditional twin powers of Rangers and Celtic, which between them have won every Scottish league title since 1985.
"This is good news not only for Hearts, but also for Scottish football," Mr Chris Robinson, Hearts chief executive, told the BBC.
The deal follows similar moves in recent weeks south of the border where English broadcaster Granada bought a 9.9 per cent stake in former European champions Liverpool while BSkyB took a similar holding in the parent company of Leeds United.
Hearts said the bulk of the £7.8 million from the deal would go towards buying new players, with the balance helping the development of the club's Tynecastle stadium. "The greatest percentage of this money will be spent on new players . . . Eight million spent wisely can make a difference," Mr Robinson said.
SMG, which owns commercial TV stations in central and northern Scotland and publishes newspapers including Glasgow daily the Herald, plans to help Hearts maximise revenue from TV, advertising, publishing, merchandising and e-commerce.
