Elvis isn’t drawing the same crowds.
Core Media Group is trying to sell the image rights to the “King of Rock” and Elvis Enterprises, which houses memorabilia and select music copyrights. The company hopes to fetch around $200 million for the Elvis Presley rights, plus those of famed boxer Muhammad Ali.
But banking sources said the list of potential buyers is short.
“It’s a little bit tired,” one source said. “They need to look for someone with an overseas presence like Disney or a sovereign wealth fund.”
The iconic assets generated $23 million in pre-tax earnings on revenue of $60 million, according the Financial Times, which first reported on the potential sale. Core declined to comment.
Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, is the sole owner of Graceland, his Memphis mansion.
Core Media, formerly known as CKx, was purchased by Apollo Global Management for $509 million in 2011. At the time, Apollo expected a long run for a Vegas Cirque du Soleil show, “Viva Elvis”; instead, the production shuttered last fall.
In 2005, CKx, then a publicly traded company run by Bob Sillerman, paid $100 million for an 85 percent stake in Elvis Enterprises. A year later, it paid Muhammad Ali $50 million for similar rights.