Private equity firm Permira and three banks have raised €493m ($595m) selling most of their remaining stakes in German pay-TV operator Premiere, six months after the company's flotation and less than three weeks after the end of the lock-up period.

Handelsblatt, the leading German business daily, reports that Premiere is ready to pay "well over €300m a season" to win the rights to live Bundesliga football. Premiere is currently estimated to pay €175m a season.