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Homegrown Baltimore billionaire David Rubenstein is about to become the owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Angelos family, majority owners of the Major League Baseball team for the past three decades, has agreed to sell the club for $1.725 billion to a group led by the Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group founder, according to multiple reports.
The deal, which was first reported by Puck News, must still be approved by the league, but it’s widely believed that the sale will be given the green light at next week’s meeting of baseball team owners.
Rubenstein is a Baltimore native. His group also consists of Ares Management co-founder and CEO Mike Arougheti and Orioles Hall of Fame infielder Cal Ripken Jr.
The proposed deal will allow Rubenstein and his group to initially acquire 40 percent of the team, with the rest to be sold after the death of 94-year-old patriarch Peter Angelos. The delay in the final sale is for tax purposes.
Angelos acquired the Orioles in 1993 for $173 million, but illnesses in recent years have led to his turning control of the team over to his sons, John and Louis.
Last month, team ownership announced it had signed a 15-year extension to stay at Camden Yards, the site it has called home since 1992.
By agreeing to the long-term lease, the team is able to tap into up to $600 million from bonds issued by the Maryland Stadium Authority for stadium upgrades.
Rubenstein, who founded the Carlyle Group in 1987, has a net worth of $4.6 billion, according to Forbes, and has long been rumored to have interest in buying the MLB team.
Requests for comment from the parties involved were not immediately returned.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
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