American billionaire Steve Cohen has reached an agreement with Sterling Partners over the sale of its Major League Baseball side the New York Mets, in a deal worth an estimated $2.4 billion.
The agreement was confirmed via Cohen in a statement which simply read: “I am excited to have reached an agreement with the Wilpon and Katz families to purchase the New York Mets.”
It is reported that the terms of the deal see the hedge fund manager obtain a 95 per cent stake in the MLB side whilst Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon will retain a five per cent share.
Cohen, who is valued at $14.6 billion according to Forbes, previously invested in the New York Mets prior to this purchase with the billionaire owning a 8 per cent stake in the team.
The sale of the company still needs to be approved by MLB Owners with a decision likely to be made at the latest meeting in November. If the sale is passed then it will end the Wilpon family’s control of the New York Mets after 34 years, with Cohen becoming the fourth majority owner of the team since it was founded in 1962.
Cohen’s purchase would eclipse the NFL’s Carolina Panthers sale in 2018, which was valued at around $2.28 billion. Whilst the fee would also narrowly best the $2.35 billion valuation of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, which was partially sold last year.
According to the Daily Mail, Cohen was not the only bidder at the team’s auction with the founder of the hedge fund Point72 Asset Management also outbidding other groups including one consisting of Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.
If the deal proves to be successful the purchase successfully concludes Cohen’s attempts to acquire the club with the Long Island native wanting to purchase a majority stake in the club since last November, however, terms back then could not be reached.
