A group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson and longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten agreed last night to buy the Dodgers from Frank McCourt for $2 billion.
Mark Walter, chief executive officer of the financial services firm Guggenheim Partners, would become the controlling owner. The price would shatter the record for a North American sports franchise, topping the $1.1 billion Stephen Ross paid for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in 2009.
The deal, revealed about five hours after Major League Baseball owners approved three finalists for an intended auction, is one of several steps toward a sale of the team by the end of April. It is subject to approval in federal bankruptcy court.
As part of the agreement, the Dodgers said McCourt and “certain affiliates of the purchasers” would acquire the land surrounding Dodger Stadium, including its parking lots, for $150 million.
The acquiring group, called Guggenheim Baseball Management, has several other investors, among them 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.
News Corp. also owns the New York Post.
The team’s debt stood at $579 million as of January, according to a court filing, so McCourt stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars even after a $131 million divorce payment to former wife Jamie, taxes and legal and banking fees.
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 Rams, the NBA’s Nuggets, the NHL’s Avalanche and MLS’ 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 Mets; biotechnology entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong; and agent Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group.
It remains to be seen whether Major League Baseball will challenge the deal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, where the case is before Judge Kevin Gross.