Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, a lifelong New York Mets‘ fan, has long dreamed of owning the team, and might soon get his wish once and for all. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes, it actually isn’t a sure thing that he achieves the goal, but he once again has gained exclusive negotiation rights for the club.
On Friday night, several outlets reported that Cohen won the bidding, leaving the Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez-led group in the dust, not to mention the Harris Blitzer association that also wanted to own the team.
It will represent another attempt from Cohen to acquire the New York Mets from the Wilpons, after one bid collapsed at the start of the year.
According to The Post, the transaction is rumored to be around $2.4 billion, or $200 million less that the last time he offered to buy the Mets. That was in December 2019.
Will Cohen finally acquire his beloved Mets?
The groups had until Monday to submit their final bids, but according to what a source familiar with the negotiations told The Post, New York Mets president Saul Katz always prefered Cohen.
“Saul wants this done,†said the aforementioned source. “It was always going to be Cohen.â€
Cohen’s bid was said to surpass the second-placed one by more than $100 million, which was reportedly the one made by the “J-Rod” group.
“The consortium led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez has informed the Mets that they are no longer pursuing the acquisition of the team,†a statement published by the group read. “The consortium, which included Vincent Viola, Mike Repole, and Marc Lore had submitted a fully funded offer at a record price for the team which was supported by binding debit commitments from JP Morgan and equity commitment letters from creditworthy partners.â€