According to multiple reports on Wednesday, the Ricketts family “is raising about $403 million by selling 34 million of its shares in TD Ameritrade Holding Corp” the online brokerage firm founded by Joe Ricketts.
A statement from Joe Ricketts in the Tribune: “Our family is working to close a deal for the Chicago Cubs, and we are please to have reached a mutually beneficial agreement with the company that will help us do so.” The Ricketts are attempting to raise about half of the $900 million price tag for the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and 25 percent of Comcast SportsNet from “family assets and borrow the rest from banks.”
The Ricketts will receive $11.85 per share and their stake in the company “will shrink from about 22 percent of TD Ameritrade’s stock to about 17.7 percent.” The family will also have to surrender one of their three seats on TD Ameritrade’s board….Joe and both sons, Tom and Pete, currently have seats on the board of TD Ameritrade.