Michael B. Kim, whose private equity firm manages more than $25 billion in assets, is among the prospective buyers of the Washington Nationals, multiple people with knowledge of the process said this week.
Billionaire Michael B. Kim among those interested in buying Nationals
Kim’s emergence as a potential bidder does not make him a front-runner to land the team. One other group has met with club officials in person, and an in-person meeting with a third group is scheduled for later this month, multiple people familiar with the process said.
As many as five or six individuals or groups are expected to meet with club officials to learn more about what they would be buying. Major League Baseball must first approve potential buyers, who then receive the opportunity to go over the Nationals’ finances. In-person — and in some cases virtual — meetings are the next step in what is considered part of due diligence; not every group approved by MLB will be granted such meetings. There is no sale price for the Nationals, and would-be buyers wouldn’t submit an offer until these discussions are complete, according to people familiar with the process. Forbes values the Nationals at about $2 billion.
The groups that have met with the Nationals do not have Washington ties, according to those familiar with the process.
Ted Leonsis, whose Monumental Sports and Entertainment owns the Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards, has not yet signed a nondisclosure agreement that MLB requires of any prospective buyer, according to two people with knowledge of the process. Mark Lerner, the Nationals’ managing principal owner, is a minority partner in Monumental.
Kim was at Nationals Park on June 29, and his experience could provide an outline of how the process will unfold with other groups over the course of the summer. Kim met with officials both from the business and baseball sides of the operation and also toured the ballpark, which is owned by Events DC, the semipublic tourism and convention company that also owns the Washington Convention Center.
Kim was born in South Korea and educated in the United States, where he now has dual citizenship. He graduated from Haverford College and Harvard Business School and went on to run Carlyle’s Asian operations for nearly a decade.
His MBK Partners, based in Seoul, has made groundbreaking deals in Korea, including a $6.1 billion deal to take over Tesco’s Korean operation, Homeplus, which was the country’s largest private-equity deal to date, according to Forbes. Forbes lists Kim as South Korea’s third-richest person, placing his wealth at $7.7 billion. In 2020, he published a novel, “Offerings,” about a Seoul-based investment banker.
The sale of the Nationals is being run by New York investment bank Allen & Company, which has extensive experience shepherding sports franchises through ownership changes. In April, when the Lerners said they would consider selling the Nationals as well as bringing on new minority partners, Mark Lerner called it “an exploratory process.”
But increasingly, those familiar with the Lerners’ thinking and with the process believe this will end with a sale. Though there is no timetable, most people familiar with the process believe a sale could be completed by the end of the year. Indeed, there’s some optimism that MLB’s owners could vote to approve a new group at their next meetings in November.
The Lerner family, headed by local real estate magnate Theodore Lerner, bought the Nationals from MLB for $450 million in 2006, nearly two years after MLB moved the franchise from Montreal. The family oversaw a massive rebuild of the entire system that led to four National League East titles, another wild-card appearance and the 2019 World Series championship.
Source: WP
