Reuters: Market News: UPDATE 1-Guggenheim to buy LA Dodgers for $2 bln

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UPDATE 1-Guggenheim to buy LA Dodgers for $2 bln Mar 28th 2012, 03:51 Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:40am EDT LOS ANGELES, March 27 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and owner Frank McCourt a nnounced a deal o n T uesday to sell the team for $2 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC, a g roup that includes former basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson as one of its partners. As part of the deal, which could help the club emerge from bankruptcy, McCourt and certain affiliates of the buyers also plan to form a joint venture to ac quire Dodger Stadium and the surrounding Chavez Ravine property for $150 million, the team and Guggenheim Baseball said in a statement. The announcement came hours after Major League Baseball owners, according to sources, had approved three bidders for an auction of the team that was expected to start Wednesday morning in New York and produce a record bid of around $1.5 billion for the famed franchise. One of those three finalists, the sources said, was the Guggenheim collective. In addition to "Magic" Johnson, the purchasing group includes Mark Walter as its controlling partner, Peter Guber, Stan Kasten, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly, the Dodgers said. "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. The sale process began in November, when Major League Baseball and McCourt ended litigation and agreed to a sale of the team supervised by the bankruptcy court that has overseen it since June. The sale was being conducted by Blackstone Group and McCourt. Major League Baseball was vetting bidders during the process. The Dodgers landed on the auction block after McCourt was forced to place the team under bankruptcy protection last year. McCourt had been expected to choose from three bidders, with the final bid seen around $1.5 billion, two sources with knowledge of the bidding said on Monday. The other finalists were a partnership that included hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen and biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and a group headed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke. News Corp's Fox sports unit and Time Warner Cable are also headed toward what could be a multi-billion dollar showdown over the rights to telecast the franchise's games. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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