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Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum is on the verge of selling part of his 25% stake in the sporting behemoth, according to a report.
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Tanenbaum, 77, is nearing a deal with the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), Sportico reported on Wednesday night. Tanenbaum co-owns MLSE with Bell and Rogers. He raised his ownership stake when the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan sold its 80% ownership to the broadcasting duopoly in 2012.
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Sportico reported MLSE was being valued at $8-billion U.S., a record for the sale of a sports conglomerate. It’s not yet clear how much of his stake Tanenbaum would sell should the deal be approved by the NHL and NBA.
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Additionally, Rogers and Bell have a right of first refusal to purchase any shares in MLSE, the report said.
MLSE owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, the Toronto Argonauts and the venues they play in. Rogers separately owns the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre. Tanenbaum has recently been involved in unsuccessful bids for soccer giants Manchester United and Chelsea FC.
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Tanenbaum is the chairman of the NBA’s board of governors and a governor and member of the executive committee of the NHL.
Sportico reported he was one of the NBA owners who recently supported a move by the league to allow franchises to accept investments from endowments, pension funds and sovereign wealth.
Tanenbaum tried to bring the Raptors to Toronto initially, but didn’t get the bid. In 1996 though, he invested in Maple Leaf Sports Holdings and ended up gaining co-ownership of the Raptors when the hockey and basketball sides merged in 1998, with the idea to later play at the planned Air Canada Centre.
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