If Dodgers are put up for sale, previous runner-up Patrick Soon-Shiong is interested
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- Those close to Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter insist the team is not for sale, but a federal probe and cash crunch raise questions about his future leading the franchise.
- Patrick Soon-Shiong, who finished second in the 2012 bidding for the Dodgers, is interested in leading an investment group should Walter change his mind.
- If the Dodgers ever hit the market, an industry insider told The Times the franchise could be valued at from $10 billion to $13 billion.
Mark Walter is not selling the Dodgers, his people say. Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ president, said it again Friday. The team, as a Los Angeles Times headline put it, is the “crown jewel” of Walter’s sporting empire.
Walter was not selling the Lakers, either, until he suddenly did last week. And, amid a cash crunch triggered by a federal investigation into insurance firms his companies control, potential bidders for the Dodgers are monitoring the situation closely.
If Walter were to sell the Dodgers, a long line of interested parties could include the runner-up when he bought the team in 2012: Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times.
Dodgers president Stan Kasten says the team is not going to be sold amid financial difficulties of majority owner Mark Walter’s companies and a federal inquiry into his insurance empire.
On Friday, Soon-Shiong said through a representative that he would be interested in leading an investment group should Walter decide to sell the team.
“We respect Mr. Walter, and we want to make it clear we have not spoken with him,” said Chuck Kenworthy, the family attorney for Soon-Shiong. “If at some point he would like to discuss the Dodgers, we would be very open to talking.”
Walter’s TWG Global did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Dodgers could command between $10 billion and $13 billion — at the higher end, three times as much as the record sale price for a major league team — a high-ranking industry source told The Times on the condition of anonymity.
In 2012, Soon-Shiong joined hedge-fund titan Steve Cohen in trying to buy the Dodgers, with Cohen as the controlling partner. Walter and his partners won the bidding at $2.15 billion, well above the $1.6 billion runner-up bid of Soon-Shiong and Cohen.
While the Buss siblings battles to sell their Lakers shares, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong says he won’t sell his stake in the team.
In 2020, Cohen bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion. The record price tag for a major league team: $3.9 billion for the San Diego Padres, officially sold this week to an investment group led by a married couple: Jose E. Feliciano, the founder of Clearlake Capital in Santa Monica, and Kwanza Jones, an artist and entrepreneur.
The record price tag for any North American sports team: $12.5 billion, the valuation of the Lakers in the deal announced last week in which Walter agreed to sell to a group fronted by former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner.
Insurance regulators and federal investigators are looking into whether certain financial transactions between various entities controlled by Walter were properly disclosed to investors and compiled with regulations designed to protect them.
The booming business of sports has attracted a flood of private equity investment and even the most notable franchises require the influx of cash to keep up in the arms race.
The cash — from the sale of the Lakers and other assets — can help pay off loans under scrutiny by regulators. It is uncertain whether that would satisfy the federal agencies probing potential wrongdoing. No charges have been filed and investigations often conclude without charges.
Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, bought The Times in 2018. He bought Magic Johnson’s 4% stake in the Lakers in 2010. Kenworthy told The Times on Thursday Soon-Shiong does not intend to sell his stake in the team.
In 2012, Soon-Shiong explored buying AEG, the sports and entertainment company that owns the Kings, the Galaxy and Crypto.com Arena. AEG owner Phil Anschutz ultimately decided not to sell.
Soon-Shiong considered buying the Angels in 2022, in the window between owner Arte Moreno announcing he would explore selling the team and deciding the following year that he would not sell.
Soon-Shiong is bringing the Global Esports Games to Los Angeles in December. He also has bought a Major League Volleyball expansion franchise that is scheduled to start play in Los Angeles next year.
