Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 25, 2007
The Billion Dollar Losers

Fortune looks at the likely buyer for the Cubs, John Canning Jr.

For those who spend more time perusing box scores than M&A deal books, Canning, 62, heads the Chicago-based private-equity firm behind last month's $5.7 billion purchase of Nuveen Investments and the recent $7.3 billion buyout of computer retailer CDW Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) Any deal for the Cubbies, however, would be led by Canning personally, not Madison Dearborn.

In Selig's mind, Canning has three things going for him. He has deep pockets to buy the team, he has Chicago roots, and, as part owner of the Milwaukee Brewers (he'd have to sell that stake), he's already a familiar face to the league's owners. He's also a big fan: Before becoming a private-equity mogul, he was a young catcher who failed in a 1962 tryout with the Atlanta Braves.

"I have enormous respect for John Canning, both as a person and as a businessman. But it's a process that will be fair and open," says Selig. "The Cubs are one of our treasures. It's a storied franchise with legions of fans all over. The only thing I would hope for is an owner who is very protective of the franchise and represents the city of Chicago well."

Including the stadium and the cable network and the bidding process for a publicly held company, the deal is likely to reach $1 billion. That's pretty good for a team that hasn't won a World Series in almost 100 seasons. If nothing else, the Tribune is going to make a tidy profit on their quarter century investment in the Cubs.


Posted by David Pinto at 01:02 PM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Assuming that we're fairly close (and getting a little sloppy with the numbers) that works out to about 15% appreciation per year, better than the stock market over that time. Nice.

Posted by: Rob McMillin at June 25, 2007 08:12 PM
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