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- Carlyle Group cofounder David Rubenstein is fronting a group buying the Baltimore Orioles, reports say.
- The Angelos family will sell the Major League Baseball franchise for $1.7 billion, Puck reported.
- Fellow private equity billionaire Michael Arougheti is also expected to be involved in the deal.
Famed private equity investor David Rubenstein is reportedly planning to buy the Baltimore Orioles.
Puck broke the news Tuesday that the Carlyle Group cofounder and Baltimore native is fronting a group expected to take a 40% stake in the Major League Baseball franchise. The outlet cited unnamed sources.
The deal values the Orioles at about $1.7 billion, per the report.
Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti and legendary former Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. are also expected to be part of the takeover group. Rubenstein will be the designated "control person," according to The Athletic, meaning he'll become the team's main decision-maker.
The Orioles are owned by the Angelos family, who bought the MLB franchise in 1993. Peter Angelos has been incapacitated by illness since 2018, and his son John has run the team in his absence.
The deal is still subject to approval by MLB, according to the Financial Times.
Rubenstein spearheaded private equity's growth into a trillion-dollar industry as one of the cofounders of Carlyle, which now manages assets worth some $380 billion.
Private equity firms have piled into US sports leagues in recent years and have ties with 18 of the 30 MLB franchises and 20 of the 30 National Basketball Association teams, according to data from PitchBook.
In May, Apollo Global Management cofounder Josh Harris agreed to buy the National Football League's Washington Commanders for more than $6 billion – a record sum for a US sports franchise.
News of Rubenstein's deal to buy the Orioles comes just days after Bloomberg reported that Marc Lasry, a cofounder of Avenue Capital Group, was part of a consortium planning to pump billions of dollars into the PGA Tour.