Billionaire media mogul Phil Anschutz has held early stage talks to buy Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, The Post has learned.
Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns or operates arenas around the world, last month held talks with Forest City Enterprises, which owns 55 percent of the two-year-old arena, sources said.
The No. 2 concert promoter in the country behind Live Nation is expected to make a decision on whether to proceed with talks — or walk away — before Dec. 31, sources said.
A wide gulf currently separates the two sides.
AEG is said to be willing to spend up to $500 million on the 19,000-seat concert and sports arena, or slightly more than 12 times Barclays’ roughly $40 million in expected 2014 operating profits, sources said.
However, Forest City, which last month forecast that profit number would soar 63 percent to $65 million in 2016, is said to be seeking a lot more than $500 million.
In the third quarter, Barclays sold more tickets than any other US arena, said one source with direct knowledge of the situation. AEG could also be looking to attract more acts to Brooklyn, insiders said.
Still, “AEG will not overspend,” the source said. “If Forest City Enterprises is rational a deal could happen.”
Live Nation is expected to at least kick the tires of a possible Barclays Center sale.
Anschutz, since deciding in March 2012 not to sell AEG, now has arenas in London, Paris and LA, and is building a 20,000-seat arena in Las Vegas.
AEG currently gives Barclays Center operational support but does not run the arena and has no ownership stake.
If Forest City were to sell its 55 percent stake in the building, it would allow the publicly traded company to more easily convert to a tax-advantageous REIT, a move that could lift its share price.
To do so, Forest City needs to generate revenue from real estate activities, like rent, and not from ticket sales.
AEG, meanwhile, is likely the only suitor interested in buying the entire stake, one source said. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the Brooklyn Nets, who play their home games at the arena, holds the balance. He may sell most, if not all, of his stake, a source said.
If AEG ends up buying Barclays, it could mean Barclays CEO Brett Yormark and Forest City’s Bruce Ratner, who now run the arena, are left on the sidelines, one source said.
Ratner has publicly expressed his desire to retain a stake and control in the arena.
However, Forest City spokesman Jeff Linton said the company is running the sale process and all options, including a full sale, were on the table.
AEG believes Yormark is paying too much to keep the arena booked, sources said. It was Yormark who guaranteed $50 million a year to the New York Islanders once they move to Barclays next season.
“AEG sees the Islanders deal as too risky,” the source said.
After roughly five years, Barclays can get out of the Islanders contract, sources said.
AEG declined to comment.