David Rubenstein group, which owned 40% of Orioles, closes deal for remainder of team
Published in Baseball
BALTIMORE — The partnership led by private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, which had owned 40% of the Orioles, closed Thursday on its deal to buy the remainder of the team.
The sale had been approved by Major League Baseball owners March 27, the day before the season opened, and Rubenstein has been a regular presence at Oriole Park at Camden Yards during games.
But the agreement was structured to be finalized in phases, with Rubenstein’s group originally owning about 40%. The March 23 death of former club owner Peter Angelos accelerated when the partnership would obtain the balance, a process that otherwise could have taken a few years. Angelos’ son, John, was the team’s chairman and CEO when the purchase agreement was reached.
Two well-known minority investors when the Orioles were owned by Peter Angelos — filmmaker Barry Levinson and tennis-star-turned-broadcaster Pam Shriver — are retaining small stakes in the club, according to an official with knowledge of the transactions.
Two others — the estates of the late novelist Tom Clancy and philanthropist Harvey Meyerhoff — sold their interests, the official said.
The Rubenstein group’s agreement valued the team at $1.725 billion, meaning that amount needed to be raised to complete the purchase. BDT & MSD, an investment bank, coordinated raising the necessary capital, and demand exceeded the available stakes, according to the Rubenstein group. The final investors’ group includes people who hadn’t been announced when the deal was initially agreed upon.
“I thank John Angelos and his family for their leadership and ownership of the team over the last 30 years,” Rubenstein said in a prepared statement. “John led a dramatic overhaul of the team’s management, roster, recruitment strategy, and farm system. We are building on these accomplishments thanks to the outstanding work of Mike Elias, his leadership team, Brandon Hyde, and our great players. ”
Rubenstein said his plan includes developing the area around Camden Yards. The club hopes to offer fans and other visitors more entertainment and dining options even when the Orioles aren’t playing.
Rubenstein, 74, is from Baltimore. A City College graduate, he grew up playing Little League in the city and is the team’s fifth owner since the club moved to the city in 1954. He co-founded the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm, in 1987.
Rubenstein’s group includes other businessmen, Maryland leaders and philanthropists, including Orioles icon Cal Ripken Jr., Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, and Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith, co-heads of the Ares Credit Group.
Rubenstein told The Baltimore Sun in May that he bought the club because “I thought I hadn’t done enough for Baltimore. And there was an opportunity that came along.”
Among his initial moves was the hiring in early July of Catie Griggs as president of business operations, making the former Seattle Mariners executive the first woman to hold the title in franchise history.
Peter Angelos, who bought the club for $173 million in 1993, had owned about 70%, with about 30% held by minority investors. The minority investors contractually had “tag-along rights,” meaning they could essentially join in the sale.
While most sold their stakes, a very small percentage of the Orioles — the Rubenstein group did not specify how much — continues to be held by investors who were originally part of Angelos’ partnership, including Levinson and Shriver.
The Orioles were 65-44 and in first place by 1/2 game in their division entering Thursday night’s play.
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