Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has announced an agreement
Monday night to sell the bankrupt team for $2 billion to a group that
includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson and former Atlanta Braves and
Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten.The agreement, revealed about five hours after Major League Baseball
owners approved three finalists for the auction, is to lead to a
transfer of the team by the end of April. It is subject to approval in
federal bankruptcy court.
Mark Walter, chief executive officer of the financial services firm
Guggenheim Partners would become the controlling owner. The price would
be easily a record for a North American sports franchise.
As part of the agreement, the Dodgers said McCourt and "certain
affiliates of the purchasers" would acquire the land surrounding Dodger
Stadium for $150 million.
The acquiring group, called Guggenheim Baseball Management, includes Mandalay Entertainment chief executive Peter Guber.
"This agreement with Guggenheim reflects both the strength and future
potential of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and assures that the Dodgers will
have new ownership with deep local roots, which bodes well for the
Dodgers, its fans and the Los Angeles community," McCourt said.
McCourt paid $430 million in 2004 to buy the team, Dodger Stadium and
250 acres of land that include the parking lots, from the Fox division
of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a sale that left the team with about
$50 million in cash at the time. The team's debt stood at $579 million
as of January, according to a court filing, so even after the divorce
payment, taxes and legal and banking fees, he stands to make several
hundred million dollars.
Kasten is expected to wind up as the team's top day-to-day executive.
The other two finalists were:
— Stan Kroenke, whose family properties own the NFL's St. Louis Rams,
the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and Major League
Soccer's Colorado Rapids, and who is majority shareholder of Arsenal in
the English Premier League.
— Steven Cohen, founder of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors and a
new limited partner of the New York Mets; biotechnology entrepreneur
Patrick Soon-Shiong; and agent Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group.
"I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend
to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive
the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our
wonderful community of Los Angeles," Johnson said in a statement.