Initial bids trickling in from suitors for the New York Mets probably won’t impress the Wilpon family all that much.
Charles Gasparino of Fox Business reported on Monday afternoon that first-round “bid indications appear weak, likely below $2 billion.”
The Wilpons were poised to sell an 80% stake in the team to hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen earlier this year for $2.6 billion before things fell through in February.
The ensuing outbreak of COVID-19 is expected to bring the price of that same stake down, with ESPN’s Darren Rovell reporting in April that majority ownership for the team could cost around $1.6 billion — $1 billion fewer.
Allen & Co., the investment bank leading the search for a new owner for the Mets, set a July 9 deadline for those first-round bids.
Cohen, who has been rumored to reemerge in the Mets sweepstakes soon, is not expected to place an initial bid, per Gasparino. However, he is still reportedly interested in making another bid.
Seven parties were pre-approved by Major League Baseball last week as qualified bidders.
While a majority of these suitors are unknown, it is believed that the group of Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Repole, the duo of Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, and Simon and David Reuben are interested.
