According to a report from Forbes, the Cubs were valued at $1.8 billion in order to complete the transaction of the minority shares of the team to six investors.
Tom Ricketts confirmed the sale of minority ownership shares to six investors Wednesday after reports from Comcast SportsNet and the Sun-Times indicated the Ricketts family had sold non-controlling interest in the team to six investors.
According to the Sun-Times, the Ricketts family raised around $175 million by selling the non-controlling interest in the team to help pay for the $375 million project to restore and expand Wrigley Field.
Tom Ricketts told the media he felt the process was a success and said the team brought in some really great investors.
The six investors reportedly bought into the Ricketts family’s holding company for an average individual investment of $25-30 million.
Forbes confirmed the Ricketts family was represented by Galatioto Sports Partners for the sale of the minority ownership shares, the same firm the family used when they purchased the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and 25 percent of Comcast SportsNet Chicago in 2009 for $845 million, $700 million was assigned to the Cubs.
According to Forbes, the Ricketts family raised $150 million not the $175 million reported by the Sun-Times.
“The owners recently raised a total of $150 million of equity to help fund the renovation of their ballpark by selling minority interests of the same assets (Cubs, Wrigley Field, Comcast SportsNet and a small parcel of land outside the stadium) to six investors, plus a tiny piece of land they subsequently bought for $20 million where there was a McDonalds, for $2.25 billion.”
The Cubs would not say how much was raised with the sale of the minority ownership shares. And the team will not release the identities of the six investors. Andrew Berlin, the owner of the South Bend Cubs, announced he was a limited partner of the Cubs, not the team.
The six investors will be part of an advisory board or committee and will not have any influence over business or baseball operations.
Ricketts family spokesman, Dennis Culloton told the Sun-Times Wednesday “this closes the limited partner phase right now” but the family “is keeping the option open to offering partnerships in the future for other reasons.”
The Tribune reported the Ricketts family is “considering a second round of selling minority ownership shares of the team.” The investments would be smaller, in the $5 million range, and not the $25-30 million the six investors are believed to have made in the Ricketts family holdings company.
- Full Report from Forbes
- Tom Ricketts Confirms Sale of Minority Ownership Shares
- Cubs Sell Minority Ownership Shares to Six Investors