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The latest bids for sports and entertainment giant AEG are coming in at the low end of the expected price range and well below the company’s lofty asking price, The Post has learned.
AEG, controlled by billionaire Philip Anschutz, was expected to fetch $6 billion to $8 billion, although the seller signaled it was seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion.
At least two suitors that made it to the second round of the auction — Guggenheim Partners and Qatar Sports Investment, in a partnership with Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital — offered less than $7 billion, according to sources.
“There were two bids,” said a person close to the process, who predicted Anschutz “will walk if he doesn’t get his price.”
A representative for AEG and Blackstone Advisory Group, which is handling the sale, said the bidding is proceeding as planned.
Finding a buyer for AEG, whose empire spans sports teams, entertainment assets and real estate, is considered a long shot. Some insiders suggest a breakup is the only way to sell it.
AEG, run by Chief Executive Tim Leiweke, owns LA’s Staples Center and O2 Arena in London. It operates or has a hand in 100-plus arenas and facilities, and competes with Live Nation in the concert and ticketing business.
In addition, AEG owns the LA Kings and Galaxy sports teams and has a stake in the Lakers. The teams can’t be foreign-owned, so Qatar Sports Investment joined with US-based Colony Capital.
Anschutz put AEG on the block late last year after Guggenheim struck a $2 billion deal to acquire the LA Dodgers baseball team.
Two decades of Dodgers’ TV rights also were snapped up by Time Warner Cable for between $7 billion and $8 billion — underscoring the soaring value of sports properties.
Guggenheim didn’t respond to a request for comment. Colony didn’t return a call seeking comment, while a London representative for Qatar Sports Investment couldn’t be reached.