Wilpons Looking to Sell Minority Stake in Mets

[EmpireWF]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/sports/baseball/29mets.html

Basically, a lawsuit has been a cloud over the Wilpon's for awhile now. The NYT piece explains it better but it's believed they made some money from their investments with Madoff. Now, they are being sued for that. Local sports talk Francessa says the Mets were caught by surprise by how much they're being sued for....but he knows little else because the details of the lawsuit are confidential right now.

The Wilpons insist they will maintain a majority piece of the Mets and day-to-day operations will remain under their control. They are only looking for an infusion of capital in case they have to pay a shitload in the lawsuit.

The Mets still have one of the highest payrolls in the sport so I don't see it hurting the team to date.

Fred Wilpon, the chairman of the Mets, said Friday that team would seek “one or more strategic partners” to offset the uncertainty created by a lawsuit brought by the trustee who is trying to retrieve losses stemming from the multi-billion dollar fraud orchestrated by Bernard Madoff.

The trustee sued Sterling Equities, the Wilpon-controlled investment company that owns the Mets, alleging that it was a “net winner” in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. When Madoff was arrested two years ago, there was widespread speculation that the Wilpons lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the fraud.

But in October 2009, the trustee, Irving Picard, said that Mets Limited Partnership put a total of $522.7 million into Madoff accounts and withdrew $570.5 million, for a profit of $47.8 million.

This qualified the Mets as “net winners,” and subjected them to a potential clawback lawsuit that would seek to recover those profits and redistribute them to eligible victims.

The lawsuit has been hanging over the club. In recent weeks, there was speculation that Wilpon was seeking investors to buy a portion of the team and provide needed cash. Jeff Wilpon, Fred’s son and the chief operating officer of the Mets, insisted to The New York Times several times in the past week that no portion of the team was for sale.

Adding to the sense that the team was in under some financial pressure was its unwillingness to spend any significant money in the current off-season. However, their payroll, which exceeds $140 million, still remains one of the largest in baseball.

In a statement, the team said: “To address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win, we are looking at a number of potential options including the addition of one or more strategic partners.

“Regardless of the outcome of this exploration, Sterling will remain the principal ownership group of the Mets and continue to control and manage the team’s operations.”

The Mets said they have hired Steve Greenberg, a managing director at Allen & Company, as an adviser.

 

[NAHSTE]

Seeing as how we already own the Mets, they should just sell the shares to Liberty Media.

 

[Youk]

Seeing as how we already own the Mets, they should just sell the shares to Liberty Media.

I couldn't thank or groan that post. It's hurtful and true. :smug:

I doubt the Wilpons will actually be able to keep majority ownership in the end.

 

[NAHSTE]

I couldn't thank or groan that post. It's hurtful and true. :smug:

I doubt the Wilpons will actually be able to keep majority ownership in the end.

We should get a hybrid button for posts that you begrudgingly agree with and call them granks.

 

[EmpireWF]

There's no way the Wilpons will have to pay more than $50 million IMO. Barring something unforseen, they're not losing control of the franchise anytime soon.

Jon Heyman is on WFAN and he was saying how it's going to be tough to find an investor who wants to spend a hundred or so million dollars and have no input on the day to day operations.

 

[SuperKevin]

MLK III wants to buy a majority stake in this team for some reason

 

[EmpireWF]

MLK III wants to buy a majority stake in this team for some reason

Yep, it's a group that includes MLK Jr's son, Ed Kranepool (former Met) and others who supposedly have over a billion dollars. They say they want half and a say in day to day ops which is obviously not what the Wilpons want. The group is supposedly coming to NY this week to talk.

Also a few other groups who are interested.

Like was mentioned before, don't see how they get anyone to spend hundreds of millions for a minority share.

 

[Youk]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...investors_seeking_to_buy_50_of_mets_but_.html

Basically, MLK III says he is looking to join that group, but is not the leader of that group right now.

 

[strahanfan92]

I have a dream that Francesa one day stops talking about this shit.

 

[NAHSTE]

LOL:

 

[IamMedellin]

Cuban to Mets: "I can be a willing buyer"

Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told reporters at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night that while he won't initiate a conversation with the Mets, he is open to listening if they call him regarding a minority stake in the team.

"If they want to sit down and sell me on it, I can be a willing buyer and a willing customer," Cuban told reporters covering the Knicks-Mavericks game. "But I'm not going to be a bidder on anything."

After losing out on recent bids to own the Cubs and Rangers, Cuban said that he is "done chasing and bidding on baseball teams."

Known for his boisterous demeanor and outspoken comments regarding the Mavericks (and often leading to fines), Cuban has long expressed an interest in owning a Major League Baseball team. The Wilpon family announced Friday that it is considering selling up to a 20-25 percent stake in the Mets.

"It's a great franchise in a great market," Cuban told reporters. "I'm sure there's going to be a whole lot of interest. But I'm not going to -- whether it's here or the Dodgers for that matter -- I'm not going to put myself in a bidding situation. I did that twice and learned my lesson."

http://dicomo.mlblogs.com/archives/2011/02/cuban_to_mets_i_can_be_a_willi.html

 

[EmpireWF]

Screw Cuban, PR fiend.

 

[Leftwich]

http://unratedgamers.com

We meet again....

 

[EmpireWF]

Looking like the complaint against the Wilpon's may be unsealed tomorrow.

Here we go...

 

[EmpireWF]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...-295-million-from-mets-owners-in-lawsuit.html

The lawsuit was unsealed and the pertinent info:

http://a.espncdn.com/pdf/20101207_sterling_suit.pdf

- Picard is seeking at least $295 million from the Mets owners

- Allegedly, Mets ownership was "warned" about Madoff being "too good to be true" years ago.

-

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2...s-reaped-300-million-in-phony-madoff-profits/

“The Sterling partners were simply in too deep—having substantially supported their businesses with Madoff money—to do anything but ignore the gathering clouds,” the suit said. “Despite being on notice and having every resource at their disposal to investigate the litany of legitimate questions surrounding Madoff, the Sterling partners chose to do nothing.”

- Meanwhile, the Wilpons released a statement denying any wrongdoing and saying they were duped along with everyone else while this Picard is just using harsh language to draw headlines and get them to cut a check.

 

[NAHSTE]

Forbes currently values the Mets at -$225. Yeah, that's negative 225 million.

 

[EmpireWF]

lmao at the misguided Braves fan.

The Mets franchise is valued at $858 million by Forbes.

 

[NAHSTE]

lmao at the misguided Braves fan.

The Mets franchise is valued at $858 million by Forbes.

rly:

http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/02/02/the-new-york-mets-book-value-negative-225-million/

Now all this debt could very well come crashing down on Wilpon as a result of his involvement with Bernie Madoff. As I wrote earlier, the Mets and their lease to Citi Field are worth about $845 million. But there is $375 million of debt attached to the Mets franchise and $695 million tied to the ballpark, leaving these assets with an aggregate negative book value of $225 million.

 

[EmpireWF]

rly:

http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/02/02/the-new-york-mets-book-value-negative-225-million/

Yep, saw the guy's blog. Regardless of such debt, the value of the franchise is the $800whatever million number.

Which doesn't even count their stake in SNY which is worth a shitload, too.

Besides, a lot of local people talking about how his calculations may not be on the up and up.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/13897/mets-under-water