A minority owner of the New York Yankees is selling a 1 percent stake in the franchise for about $24 million, according to documents associated with the transaction and reviewed by Bloomberg News. The team as a whole is worth $2.75 billion to $3.25 billion, the documents say.
Club 9 Sports Inc., a New York-based investment advisory firm, is handling the sale. James Roche, a senior associate at Club 9, didn’t immediate return a call seeking comment.
Limited partners in professional sports teams may sell all or some of their shares for a variety of reasons, including estate planning. It isn’t known which Yankees’ shareholder is offering the stake. The controlling interest in the Yankees is owned by the Steinbrenner family, which has said it isn’t interested in selling the club.
Any agreement would have to be approved by Major League Baseball and by the Yankees, who have not reviewed any proposals yet, according to a person familiar with the matter.
For the purposes of the sale, Club 9 values the team at $3 billion, then applies a 20 percent discount that acknowledges the limited influence of minority owners. “Paying anything below $24MM for a 1% stake is a good value in our view, especially considering this is the most valuable, most iconic and most recognized sports team in North America.”
