Despite hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen’s attempt to buy the Mets falling through, Fred and Jeff Wilpon still intend to sell the team. That is expected to happen sooner rather than later, with the process set to begin Monday, Feb. 10.
Cohen, who had an eight percent minority stake in the team, would have gained up to 80 percent control of the team if the deal went through. The only caveat was that his ownership wouldn’t come into effect for five years.
According to an article published by Bloomberg on Sunday, this time around, “no preconditions regarding control of the team will be attached to the upcoming sale,” so whoever purchases the team will likely take over immediately once the sale goes down.
Bloomberg adds that the Wilpons might actually walk away with more than the $2.6 billion Cohen agreed to pay for the team by conceding control of the team immediately.
“In most cases an immediate sale with control will lead to a higher price than a sale today with a future option of control,” Sports Consultant Marc Ganis told Bloomberg. “Most parties who buy a team want to own and operate it sooner rather than later. They don’t want to be in a position where the interim owner may reduce the value, take on debt or make bad trades.”
Here a few other tidbits from the article:
- Allen & Co., the investment bank being used by the Mets, will begin the sales process of the team on Monday, Bloomberg has learned.
- SNY will again not be included in the sale, which will be a big hit to the next owner.
- Whoever owns the team will assume annual losses of at least $50 million, the article suggests, which could have been easy to swallow for Cohen and his $9 billion net worth, but being in the New York market could still make it desirable to a prospective owner.
To read the entire piece from Bloomberg, follow this link.
