The Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday that revised bids, including financing details for Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, are due before Thanksgiving. However, if the potential buyers are unable to secure financing in a period where bankers have been very picky about lending, the once highly anticipated auction will turn into anything but a holiday feast.
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The pool of potential bidders includes Mark Cuban, who recently noted he is still interested in the team despite the reported outcries from Major League Baseball; Tom Ricketts; Hersch Klaff; John Canning Jr.; and Sports Properties Acquisition Corp. The latter has only claimed it has financing lined up from Citigroup Inc. Cuban, for obvious reasons, probably won't need outside financing.
Cuban was quoted in the report saying that Zell is "crazy" for trying to sell the team now because the team may be worth far less than the initial bids, which reportedly reached $1 billion. And if Cuban does fall out of the race, the price tag could fall to as low as $850 million. The report also stated that Zell has delayed sending out financial data on Comcast SportsNet.
Zell may be forced to keep as much as 50% of the team to keep as many bidders in play as possible and the price up. He also wants a highly leveraged deal to avoid capital gains taxes, but that may be difficult now in the uncertain economic environment.
But no matter how or when Zell decides to get rid of the team, including Wrigley Field and Comcast SportsNet, he can't do it soon enough as the debt he took on from his purchase of Tribune Co. last year is still sitting pretty steep at $12 billion -- and it doesn't help that newspaper ad revenue continues to decline. - Demitri Diakantonis
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It’s been several weeks since the Philadelphia Phillies were crowned World Series Champions 2008. Although the Major League Baseball season is over, it doesn’t mean that the baseball action is at an end. Fans of the national game have turned their hearts and minds towards baseball’s free agency period – the “Hot Stove League.” Previously players could be bought, sold, traded or released as management saw fit, without consideration of the player’s family or their livelihood in general. Players fought for years to obtain the rights to ply their trade for the teams they preferred. Similarly, every consumer has the right to seek personal loans where and whenever you want, regardless of what anyone tells you. Personal loan companies should compete for your business as teams compete for the services of players. Low rates would be maintained with more favorable terms in this case.
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