The Financial Times reports this morning that two private equity groups, Apollo Global Management and Blackstone, are engaged in conversations about possibly acquiring the New York Mets, seeing the largely underperforming franchise as a potentially good investment at a time when the pandemic has driven down team values.
The Mets have been the subject of considerable interest in recent months, though the owning Wilpon family reportedly has put so many conditions on a sale - like their continued participation in management - that negotiations with financier Steve Cohen fell apart, and talks with Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez reportedly never really got started.
- KC's View:
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My general antipathy toward private equity may get tested if one or both of these groups buys the Mets … they've got to be better than the Wilpons.
I was perfectly happy to go with Steve Cohen, or J.Lo and A-Rod. I can learn to live with private equity.
Just get rid of the Wilpons.
