DODGERS The ongoing OWNERSHIP Thread

Heisley, Ressler join forces to bid on Dodgers
Grizzlies owner, L.A. investor come together for auction of club
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 03/06/12 4:12 AM EST

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Michael Heisley and Tony Ressler, who failed to make the cut individually, have merged to form one bidding interest and re-enter the auction for the Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Heisley owns the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, while Ressler is a Los Angeles-based investor and minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

If true, they would form the eighth bidder in the sale process, which is overseen by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The bidders are currently being vetted by MLB and are subject to approval by a minimum of 23 of their 30 owners.

Current owner Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the club and the ballpark. McCourt must select a winning bidder by April 1 and the sale must close by April 30, the same date McCourt must pay former wife Jamie McCourt a $131 million divorce settlement.

Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

 

mccourt and selig have already made their choice
a choice that will let selig save face
and let mccourt exit a wealthy man
doing what's best for the dodgers is a distant third

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/03/dodgers-notes-ownership-kemp-kershaw.html

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza...gic-johnson-leads-way-with-1-6-billion-offer/

The bidding groups for baseball’s bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers appear to have been whittled down to five from seven tonight.​

A person familiar with the meetings held today between seven groups bidding for Frank McCourt’s Dodgers and Major League Baseball said the league’s owners were impressed with offers: billionaire hedge fund titan Steve Cohenand agent Art Tellem; Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten; billionaire St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke; Memphis Grizzlies billionaire owner Michael Heisley and investor Tony Ressler and Stanley Gold, chief executive officer of Shamrock Holdings, the investment company of the family of the late Roy Disney.​

The highest bid was $1.6 billion, from former Los Angeles Lakers great Johnson and former baseball executive Kasten, whose purchase would be partially financed by private equity. But the owners were extremely impressed with the make up of Cohen’s bid, according to my source, which was $1.4 billion but included an astounding $900 million of equity. “There were five strong bids,” said the source, who did not have permission to speak of the negotiations publicly. The lowest bid from the five groups was $1.3 billion.​

All the bids included the lease to the parking lots for Dodger Stadium, which would still be owned by McCourt.​

MLB was not impressed with the structure of the bid by the group led Leo Hindery, managing partner of the private equity firm InterMedia Partners and former chief executive officer of the YES Network, or by by offer made by real estate developer Alan Casden.​

McCourt, through an agreement with MLB has the right to select the winning bidder and submit it to MLB owners for approval. If McCourt feels that if the groups not approved by baseball were unfairly booted from the bidding he can take his case to an arbitrator. McCourt needs to pick a winner by April 1st and complete the sale by April 30th.​

 

To summarize: Five bids in... Magic has offered the most money, with Cohen offering the most straight up money.

Big BIG downside is that McCourt is more than likely going to keep the parking lots. My goodness.

 

So motherfucking parking is still going to be 15+ dollars. Horrendous, McCourt is a fucking nightmare.

I hope he picks Magic, but looks like Cohen is going to be our new owner and we have a fucking shady character calling the shots