Bad news, Mets fans: the long-negotiated deal for Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn to invest $200 million in the Mets to become minority owner with a majority pathway is off.
The Mets announced that they had ended negotiations with Einhorn this morning, claiming they have additional capital to cover 2011 losses. But they will attempt to raise the same amount of money through selling of smaller minority shares to smaller investors- though why they wouldn’t have done so prior to months of negotiating with Einhorn is far from clear.
For his part, Einhorn, in a conference call, expressed surprise over what he described as last-minute changes to the agreement in place since May that the Mets insisted upon last week.
What does it mean for the Mets? Well, it certainly makes the team’s short-term finances that much murkier, since Einhorn’s cash would have been paying off immediate debts and losses. It also complicates matters should the Wilpons be forced to sell the team. And it keeps the Mets from a strong possibility of having David Einhorn, a wealthy, intelligent man whose worldview lines up with Sandy Alderson’s, in the driver’s seat.
On the plus side: you still have a chance to own a piece of the New York Mets.
3 Comments
The Wilpons are desperately figuring out a way to have a sixteen million dollar, .230 hitting left fielder and eight other starters making a total of 4 million for a grand total of a $20 million dollar payroll plus assorted cheap scrubs on the bench and bullpen. Their manager will make more money than any position player other than Bay. They’ve solved their Einhorn problem.
Hopefully, this makes it more likely that the Wilpons will finally have to see the team.
sell ha!