We may be reaching the end of a very long saga. According to Charles Gasparino of Fox Business, Allen & Company set July 9 (a week from now) as the date for every interested party in buying the New York Mets to submit their bids.
Allen & Company is the firm in charge of managing the sale of the Mets. Gasparino said that among the people interested in bidding appears a familiar name: Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire that came very close of acquiring the team from the Wilpons just a few months ago.
Talks between Cohen and the Wilpons broke down in February.
The bidding heated up recently after a few cold weeks, with other groups in, like the one formed by former Yankees’ star Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez and Mike Repole; and the one fronted by sports entrepreneurs Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
Seven groups want to buy the Mets
In total, there are at least seven groups interested in bidding for the New York Mets, who pushed to qualify for the playoffs last season but ultimately came short of their goal.
Scott Soshnick of Sportico reported that the Mets are hoping to complete the sale by the end of the year.
Last week, it was reported that brothers David and Simon Reuben were also interested in the Mets, but Soshnick said that they may seek the enhanced real estate opportunities around Citi Field rather than the team itself.
Current New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon last updated the situation on June 11.
“The team will have some kind of transaction,” Wilpon said during a panel for the UJA-Federation of New York, per Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. “I can’t tell you exactly what it’s going to be and how it’s going to look, but we’re working towards a transaction and there’s four or five suitors that are out there to do something with and a bunch of philanthropic planning and family planning that my dad and my uncle want to do. And it’s totally fine. And when we have something to truly announce and tell you about, we’ll do that. Not going to play the speculation game or get in any kind of competition with Page Six or Variety Magazine.”