Cranes says Zell Still Pushing for sale by end of Dec.

by kaseyi on Nov 17, 2008 10:50 AM CST

According to Cranes, the Cubs WILL have a new prospective owner by the end of December. It looks like Zell really needs the money from the sale ASAP and even though it won't be completed in time to make a debt payment, if there is a seller set, the banks should look favorably on Zell.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31840

Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell is pushing to have a deal in place by yearend to sell all but a small stake in the Chicago Cubs, despite recent indications that he might retain 50% of the ballclub. Mr. Zell expects to select a finalist from the five remaining bidding groups and submit the deal for Major League Baseball's approval sometime in December, a person familiar with the sale says. He is fast-tracking the sale — despite a credit crunch that seemed to put his year-end deadline in doubt — as pressure mounts to raise as much as $1 billion to chip away at the mountain of debt from his 2007 buyout of Tribune.

Kasey

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Sounds about right...

Thanks for the update.

by Damen Jackson on Nov 17, 2008 11:04 AM CST reply actions

It is as I expected

Zell has no choice but to sell something soon. Since the leg work has been done with the Cubs, that seems to be the most likely asset to go. He likely won’t get the massive payday that he anticipated a year ago, but if someone will give him the $650 million or so to get the debt payment handled, he really can’t say “No” right now.

All in all, the timing of the sale may become deadly for club success over the next few years. The Wood situation did show that payroll is already getting near its peak. With the backloaded contracts just getting worse in 2010 and beyond, I have fears that major chunks of the roster may have to be traded off to keep further debt from piling up, especially if the new owner had to go into moderate debt to make the purchase in the first place. I guess we will have a feel for that situation in the coming months.

by Qixotl on Nov 17, 2008 11:24 AM CST reply actions

It all depends on who the new owner is.

I suspect the Ricketts group has enough capital to infuse money into the franchise regardless of the credit crunch.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Nov 17, 2008 12:03 PM CST up reply actions

It would be nice if they could infuse some money to resign a certain closer

by dr stabbingworth on Nov 17, 2008 12:44 PM CST up reply actions

+1

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Nov 17, 2008 5:27 PM CST up reply actions

The timing of this may help the Cubs

If a new owner “only” has to pay $650M (using your example for just that, an example), instead of north of $1B (the number we’ve heard so much of before all hell broke loose on Wall St.) that should be good for the team. Less money spent on the team acquiring it should on the surface allow for more spending on the team after acquiring it.

The backloaded contract increases (over $21M in ‘09 vs ’08 for just 6 players) does complicate things but shouldn’t be prohibitive for any new owner in of itself if they’re going to save maybe a couple hundred million on the actual purchase.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Nov 17, 2008 12:21 PM CST up reply actions

Having a new owner in place MIGHT

mean payroll could be increased; let’s hope it isn’t frozen or reduced. If I was the new owner I would want to make a splash and get farther than the previous owner. Win it all, then bust the team up in salary reduction, make some big bucks, then settle in to start winning on a consistent basis starting with younger players. Only time will tell what happens.

This is only the beginning....Lou Pinella end of '07 season and Chicago Transit Authority (the band when they were really good).

by mrcubsfan on Nov 17, 2008 12:21 PM CST reply actions