Hold your horses.

Six Nations have released a strongly-worded statement following reports in France that a deal has been struck with investment firm CVC Capital Partners.

The firm has already acquired stakes in the Gallagher Premiership and the Guinness PRO14 with World Rugby vice-chairman and FFR president Bernard Laporte  “confirming” this week that a deal is in place for the CVC to acquire a significant stake in the Six Nations.

Midi Olympique reported that the deal is worth in excess of €450 million over five years but it appears a deal is far from done.

Six Nations have come out tonight with the following statement:

“Over the past year, Six Nations has been involved in exclusive negotiations with CVC Capital Partners. These negotiations have been very constructive and forward thinking.

“Negotiations of this nature are complex. They can take significant time and at this point, are still ongoing. An agreement is not to be expected imminently and it would be inaccurate to present it as a formality.

“There is no set timeline for completion of this process, and any agreement, if it were to go ahead, would not be accelerated due to any potential challenge presented by the current external environment.”