The Baltimore Orioles are a Major League Baseball team that plays in the AL East, which is home to the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Tampa Bay Rays. Historically, it has proven to be one of the toughest divisions in baseball. Peter Angelos assembled a group of investors to purchase the Orioles all the way back in 1993, positioning himself as principal owner.
After three decades of ownership, the Angelos family finally elected to pursue a sale of the team this year. Recent reports suggest that a private equity group led by David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti. David Rubenstein is a Baltimore native and co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG).
The Carlyle Group is a Washington D.C.-based investment firm that specializes in direct and fund of fund investments. Its shares have increased 1.9% month-over-month as of close on Tuesday, January 30. Meanwhile, this financial stock has jumped 13% in the year-over-year period.
Rubenstein’s private equity group will reportedly fork over $1.725 billion to purchase the Baltimore Orioles. Under the structure of the current purchase agreement, Rubenstein will take over as the team’s controlling owner. Major League Baseball must still approve the sale of the Orioles. The league’s owners are set to meet next week in Orlando, Florida, where onlookers can expect that a vote on the subject will take place. A sale must be approved by at least 75% of the 30 major league teams.
