Antitrust and debt concerns may have spooked bidders in the auction of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc. Tuesday was the bid deadline, but only one consortium made an offer after two were expected. The consortium led by Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa failed to meet the deadline, perhaps because Washington private equity firm Carlyle Group dropped out of the consortium late Tuesday. While antritrust concerns surrounding Televisa's involvement were the talk of the business pages earlier in the week, Dow Jones suggests private equity firms were more concerned with raising the necessary debt to meet the $12 billion asking price. Since the reported bid fielded by Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners and the media investor Haim Saban was reportedly closer to $11 billion, Univision is expected to waive the deadline to let Televisa prepare a new bid with its remaining PE partners Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Cascade Investments and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Stay tuned for more. —Matthew Wurtzel
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