LeBron James and private equity firm to get stakes in Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox majority owner John Henry has agreed to sell a roughly 11% stake in the team’s parent company to RedBird Capital Partners, Axios has confirmed with a source close to the situation. Separately, LeBron James has acquired around a 1% stake in the club, although without investing any new money.

The deal will result in a great return for majority owner John Henry, who in 2001 paid what was then a record $700 million for the Red Sox. This deal values its parent company, Fenway Sports Group, at around $7.3 billion.

RedBird originally was in talks to buy between 20-25% of FSG via a SPAC, which included the involvement of longtime baseball exec Billy Beane. But that deal didn’t come together, due to difficulties in obtaining outside financing at a valuation asking price of around $8 billion.

RedBird is led by Gerry Cardinale, who made his name as the Goldman Sachs banker who helped the New York Yankees create the country’s largest regional sports network.

James grew up as a Yankees fan, and is known to sport the team’s iconic cap. He had previously acquired around a small ownership stake in soccer club Liverpool FC, which is part of the Fenway Sports Group portfolio, and now is using the Redbird-led restructuring to convert that stake into the 1% piece of FSG.

In addition to the Red Sox and Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group also includes a NASCAR team and regional sports network that airs Red Sox and Boston Bruins games.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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