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The Angelos family has reached a deal to sell the Orioles to private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, three sources with direct knowledge of the deal told The Baltimore Sun. Rubenstein will take over as the team’s control person as part of the deal, which values the team at $1.725 million.
The Angelos family has owned the team since Peter Angelos purchased it for $173 million in 1993. Legal documents from 2022 revealed that the now-ailing owner wanted the team to be sold after his death so his wife, Georgia, “could enjoy the great wealth they had amassed together.” His eldest son, John, has been the team’s control person since 2020.
Rubenstein, 74, is a philanthropist and founder of the Carlyle Group. He is a Baltimore native and alumnus of Baltimore City College.
He will initially take a 40% ownership stake in the Orioles with an agreement to buy out the remaining equity following the death of family patriarch Peter Angelos, according to one of the sources.
The Angelos family would be subject to significant capital gains taxes if the team is sold before Peter Angelos’ death. Angelos, 94, has been in poor health for more than six years.
Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr. is expected to be part of the ownership group, one of the sources said.
Included in the deal is Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, the regional television network owned by the Orioles and Washington Nationals, that source also said. The Orioles own the majority of MASN under a complex agreement that originated when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington (within the Orioles’ media territory) in 2005. The two teams split the rights and profits to MASN, with the Orioles receiving most of The benefits of MASN.
The Orioles and Nationals could not agree on how much each club should receive over a five-year period spanning 2012 to 2016, leading to multiple arbitrations and a decade of dispute. That litigation was finally resolved last summer and fees to be paid over the next five years, from 2017 to 2021, were quickly agreed upon.
A spokesman for John Angelos declined to comment. The Orioles, MLB and the Maryland Stadium Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
MLB has yet to formally approve the sale. The league has strict protocols that include vetting potential investors and voting on the sale by owners.
Puck News, a journalist-owned subscription media outlet that covers the financial and political elite, was first to report the sale Tuesday night.
The Angelos family’s intention to sell the team became public when the family was fighting for control of the Orioles after Peter Angelos became incapacitated. Louis Angelos, the younger of Peter’s two children, sued his mother and his brother in 2022 over what he characterized as John Angelos’ attempt to seize control and ownership of the family fortune, including the baseball club. .
According to the lawsuit, John Angelos halted and thwarted plans to sell the team, unilaterally torpedoing interest from “a highly credible group of buyers.”
Subsequent filings in the lawsuit, which was dismissed last February after an apparent private settlement, revealed that the family had hired investment bank Goldman Sachs and law firm Jones Day to handle a potential sale.
The $1.725 million asking price is slightly higher than Forbes’ valuation of $1.713 million, which ranked the Orioles 18th out of 30 MLB teams.
The Orioles recently agreed to a lease with the state of Maryland, owner of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, to remain in Baltimore for at least 15 years and potentially more than 30. That deal was negotiated for years, spanning two governors and two officials. of the stadium. presidents, and was agreed to in December, shortly after Bloomberg reported that Rubenstein was “in talks” to acquire the team.
At that point, John Angelos called Gov. Wes Moore to assure him that the family had no intention of selling the team, according to a source familiar with the call.
As part of the lease agreement, the Orioles unlocked millions of dollars of state investment in Camden Yards, as outlined in a 2022 law. That law allowed the stadium authority to use up to $600 million in bonds to improve the stadium, as long as a signed lease would last long enough for the bonds to be paid off. Under the 15-year deal, approximately $400 million is available, the stadium authority previously told The Sun.
The lease agreement, which includes the possibility of the state and the Orioles agreeing to a plan to redevelop the land around the stadium, remains intact in the event of a sale. The lease includes a non-relocation clause, which prevents the Orioles from leaving the city during the term.
The stadium lease deal and agreement to sell the team follow a season in which the Orioles made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The 2023 season saw a lengthy rebuild to form a young roster that racked up 101 wins and won the American League East.
Rubenstein’s net worth of $3.7 billion, according to Forbes, ranks in the middle of the pack for MLB owners. That’s in line with the Steinbrenner family of the New York Yankees ($3.8 billion in 2015), but far less than the sport’s richest, such as Steve Cohen of the New York Mets ($19.8 billion). Peter Angelos is worth $2 billion.
Rubenstein will be the fifth owner in team history. It was previously owned by Jerold Hoffberger (1953-1979), Edward Bennett Williams (1979-1989) and Eli Jacobs (1989-1993).
Baltimore Sun reporters Hayes Gardner and Jacob Calvin Meyer contributed to this story. This article will be updated.