A hint of a rumor that you will like

[Frobby]

All a single potential owner would have to do is buy out Angelo's 51% share. An ownership group would likely buy out all of the current owners.

Have you read somewhere that Angelos owns 51%? I know he is the majority owner, but I've never heard whether it is 51%, 99% or something in between.

Also, it is not uncommon, where you have a majority owner and one or more minority owners, to have a written agreement that the majority owner can't sell his/her interest unless the same terms are offered to the minority owners. Otherwise, it's too easy for the majority owner to screw over his partners. Obviously, I have no idea what agreement Angelos has with the minority owners in his group.

[Stotle]

If that was the plan he wouldn't have bothered to get a guaranteed sale price in his deal with MLB for the Nats.

Sure he would -- that guarantee would pass to his sons.

[allstar1579]

Sure he would -- that guarantee would pass to his sons.

To risk losing the sweet deal he got getting MASN approved? I mean you'd have to think the way sports teams appreciate that there would be no worries of his kids selling for less than that guarantee.

I can't see anyone in that family caring about legacies or the team in general. I always thought he looked at it as an investment and that's it. His first love is and always will be horse racing.

[Stotle]

To risk losing the sweet deal he got getting MASN approved? I mean you'd have to think the way sports teams appreciate that there would be no worries of his kids selling for less than that guarantee.

I can't see anyone in that family caring about legacies or the team in general. I always thought he looked at it as an investment and that's it. His first love is and always will be horse racing.

I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at. Not only would I consider it to be pretty standard for a bequeathment provision to be included in a large business arrangement such as this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was also a successor and assigns provision that passes along this guarantee to anyone who purchases Mr. Angelos' ownership share, as well. This is all pretty standard.

Why do you think this would be risky to getting his MASN deal approved? Wouldn't your second sentence negate the need for the guarantee at all, then? I don't know to what that last part about legacy is referring.

[mcgraw238]

I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at. Not only would I consider it to be pretty standard for a bequeathment provision to be included in a large business arrangement such as this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was also a successor and assigns provision that passes along this guarantee to anyone who purchases Mr. Angelos' ownership share, as well. This is all pretty standard.

Why do you think this would be risky to getting his MASN deal approved? Wouldn't your second sentence negate the need for the guarantee at all, then? I don't know to what that last part about legacy is referring.

I recall MLB wanting the gaurantee to apply to PA only and PA arguing (successfully I believe) that the sale price floor should be applied to his hiers as well. This issue was very much in play and PA wanted the benefit extended to his children as well.

[allstar1579]

I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at. Not only would I consider it to be pretty standard for a bequeathment provision to be included in a large business arrangement such as this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was also a successor and assigns provision that passes along this guarantee to anyone who purchases Mr. Angelos' ownership share, as well. This is all pretty standard.

Why do you think this would be risky to getting his MASN deal approved? Wouldn't your second sentence negate the need for the guarantee at all, then? I don't know to what that last part about legacy is referring.

I mean the big hangup in their negotiations was that guaranteed sale price, why risk the deal as a whole when he was already coming out ahead if he wasn't planning on selling? I don't think any of them have any interest in keeping the team in the family as some sort of legacy, and I really expect PA to sell before he dies.

I understand what you mean, I just never thought he was really planning on leaving things to his kids. I'm actually surprised he's held on this long. I know the Lerners made a run at him before getting the Nats and almost had a deal.

[DrungoHazewood]

Mark Cuban has been trying to get into MLB for a while now. A group with Ripken would certainly help him gain some approval.

That would be my dream scenario. But I still think it's as likely Bud approves Marion Barry as part of an ownership group as Mark Cuban.

[ScottP]

Mark Cuban has been trying to get into MLB for a while now. A group with Ripken would certainly help him gain some approval.

I thought Angelos refused to deal with Cubans.

[weams]

Just spitballing here, but didn't Angelos have interest in getting involved with the slots? Knowing he can't do both, own the Orioles and a Track/ Casino, it's possible he wants out of MLB for a more lucrative offer. Or maybe that's what his sons want?

This is absolutely true. I am uncertain if he has proceeded and if he was high bidder.

[LookinUp]

Isn't Bisciotti a possibility as well? (eventually)

[Stotle]

I mean the big hangup in their negotiations was that guaranteed sale price, why risk the deal as a whole when he was already coming out ahead if he wasn't planning on selling? I don't think any of them have any interest in keeping the team in the family as some sort of legacy, and I really expect PA to sell before he dies.

I understand what you mean, I just never thought he was really planning on leaving things to his kids. I'm actually surprised he's held on this long. I know the Lerners made a run at him before getting the Nats and almost had a deal.

It would have to be in place in some form, otherwise his family would not have any guarantee at all if he were hit by a bus the day before completing the sale. If you are allowing the guarantee to be in place, I can't fathom there being some sort of dig-in on successor/assigns language. I negotiated a loan agreement for an individual totaling $40 MM and he made sure there was language to allow the assets backing the loan to be passed on to certain family members, either by will or other transfer. I can't imagine Mr. Angelos not having some sort of similar protection for a $400 MM asset.

[TonySoprano]

Have you read somewhere that Angelos owns 51%? I know he is the majority owner, but I've never heard whether it is 51%, 99% or something in between.

Also, it is not uncommon, where you have a majority owner and one or more minority owners, to have a written agreement that the majority owner can't sell his/her interest unless the same terms are offered to the minority owners. Otherwise, it's too easy for the majority owner to screw over his partners. Obviously, I have no idea what agreement Angelos has with the minority owners in his group.

In one of my several books on the Orioles, I had read that he owned slightly over half of the team.

There are several other investors which include Tom Clancy, Wanda T. King, Stephen A. Geppi, Harvey M. Meyerhoff, David H. Bernstein, Edward J. Brush, Barry Levinson, Pat Smyth, Roger R. Blunt, Pam Shriver, William P. Beatson, Jim McKay,

Alfred Tyler II, George P. Stamas, James S. Riepe, John H. Laporte, Wayne R. Gioioso Sr. and Jack B. Dunn IV.

I'm not able to find a list by percentage anymore, but I know Shriver and McKay owned about 1% each. Clancy owned a larger minority share, 24%, but chased after, and married a younger mistress. Subsequently, he lost half of his share to his then wife of about thirty years, Wanda, in the divorce.

Author Tom Clancy has given his ex-wife half of his interest in the Baltimore Orioles as part of their divorce agreement.

Clancy, who penned such military thrillers as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, and ex-wife Wanda each now own about 12 percent of the team.

Clancy was part of an investment group that paid $173 million for the Orioles in 1993. He and his ex-wife are the second-biggest shareholders in the team, behind lawyer Peter Angelos.

source - Philadelphia Inquirer, March 26, 2000

Doing research online, I may need to amend my figure to 60%, specifically

With the initial asbestos windfall, Angelos assembled a group of investors and bought the Orioles in August 1993 for $173 million (then a record price tag for a sports franchise), claiming a 60 percent ownership himself.

source Baltimore City Paper, Aug 16,2000

[allstar1579]

It would have to be in place in some form, otherwise his family would not have any guarantee at all if he were hit by a bus the day before completing the sale. If you are allowing the guarantee to be in place, I can't fathom there being some sort of dig-in on successor/assigns language. I negotiated a loan agreement for an individual totaling $40 MM and he made sure there was language to allow the assets backing the loan to be passed on to certain family members, either by will or other transfer. I can't imagine Mr. Angelos not having some sort of similar protection for a $400 MM asset.

Ahhh. I see what you mean. Standard kinda thing for something so big?

[Frobby]

In one of my several books on the Orioles, I had read that he owned slightly over half of the team.

There are several other investors which include Tom Clancy, Wanda T. King, Stephen A. Geppi, Harvey M. Meyerhoff, David H. Bernstein, Edward J. Brush, Barry Levinson, Pat Smyth, Roger R. Blunt, Pam Shriver, William P. Beatson, Jim McKay,

Alfred Tyler II, George P. Stamas, James S. Riepe, John H. Laporte, Wayne R. Gioioso Sr. and Jack B. Dunn IV.

I'm not able to find a list by percentage anymore, but I know Shriver and McKay owned about 1% each. Clancy owned a larger minority share, 24%, but chased after, and married a younger mistress. Subsequently, he lost half of his share to his then wife of about thirty years, Wanda, in the divorce.

source - Philadelphia Inquirer, March 26, 2000

Doing research online, I may need to amend my figure to 60%, specifically source Baltimore City Paper, Aug 16,2000

That's excellent information, thanks. I would have guessed that Angelos owned more than 60%, but your research certainly suggests otherwise. We also know, from FCC filings, that the owners of the Orioles also own shares of MASN (with the Nats' owners also holding shares) -- what we don't know is whether the Orioles-related owners own MASN in the same relative percentages that they own the Orioles. If that is the arrangement, then Angelos' personal share of MASN will slip below 50% in just a couple of years, because the Nats' group's ownership in MASN grows by 1% a year and should be at 16-17% now (so, Angelos' 60% of the Orioles group's 83-84% ownership of MASN would be just about 50%, and will shrink from there).

[weams]

That's excellent information, thanks. I would have guessed that Angelos owned more than 60%, but your research certainly suggests otherwise. We also know, from FCC filings, that the owners of the Orioles also own shares of MASN (with the Nats' owners also holding shares) -- what we don't know is whether the Orioles-related owners own MASN in the same relative percentages that they own the Orioles. If that is the arrangement, then Angelos' personal share of MASN will slip below 50% in just a couple of years, because the Nats' group's ownership in MASN grows by 1% a year and should be at 16-17% now (so, Angelos' 60% of the Orioles group's 83-84% ownership of MASN would be just about 50%, and will shrink from there).

I was of the impression that MASN was a Angelos only venture on the Oriole side.