Billionaire club owner Tom Hicks may sell his majority stake in MLB’s Texas Rangers having started to identify potential investors for the club.
Hicks’ holding company Hicks Sports Group missed interest payments on $525 million in loans related to the Major League Baseball team and hockey’s Dallas Stars in April.
The company described the situation as a “business dispute” and that it withheld payments “as part of negotiations” over the terms and covenants of the loans.
Hicks Sports Group has hired consultants led by former Goldman Sachs Group banker Joseph Ravitch, working jointly with financial management and advisory company Merrill Lynch, to find suitable investors for the Rangers.
“My family and I want very much to stay involved with the club but we understand that we have to be open to solutions that may include partners who own a controlling interest in the Rangers,” Hicks said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. “That’s not our preference, but there are some potential buyers who won’t consider having only a minority interest.”
Hicks bought the Rangers in January 1998 for $250 million from a group headed by former US president George W Bush. Hicks also owns English Premier League’s Liverpool FC which he bought with Montreal Canadiens-owner George Gillett for £174 million in February 2007.
